Gender issue that could run and run

As the rules stand, it is very unlikely Maxine Blythin will play cricket for england. she can, however, play for Kent. And does, opening the batting for much of this season, with reasonable success.

‘two innings-anchoring scores of 43 and 48 from opener Maxine Blythin... steered Kent Women to two wins in their final two matches of the season in the Vitality Women’s County t20,’ it was reported in June.

Blythin averages more than 30 for Kent this season across all competitions and also plays for st Lawrence and highland Court in the Women’s Cricket southern League, where she averages 123, including four centuries and a top score of 152 not out.

the reason Blythin (below) is unlikely to be an international contender is because she is transgender. she identifies as a woman, meaning she would not pass the eCB’s test for testosterone limits. Next year, when the Women’s hundred begins in a semi- professional format, maybe Blythin will have to stop playing for Kent, too.

As it stands, beyond the england team, the eCB’s policy is not medically driven, but socially inclusive. A person identifying as a woman, is a woman. Only at professional level is self- definition no longer enough. Kent flirt with professionalism from next season.

A women’s rights pressure group, Fair Play For Women, has already seized on Blythin’s involvement in county cricket as unreasonable.

‘Letting males who self-ID as women play in women’s competitions is demonstrably unfair,’ it said. ‘the eCB knows males have a performance advantage over females. this is why it lets women use lighter and smaller cricket balls and why boundaries are set closer.’

they have a point. As a county cricketer Blythin is one grade below the england team — Kent’s captain is tammy Beaumont, a current england cricketer, World Cup winner and MBe — and opening bat is a specialist position with limited opportunities.

Inclusivity is important. Yet what of the player Blythin is keeping out of the Kent team, who might work just as hard but lack her physical strength? how is inclusivity working for her?

Against this, if the eCB widens its testosterone test, where is the boundary? County? Club? Village? If Blythin could not play for her club, let alone her county, where is she to go?

Gender issues in sport are becoming almost impossibly complex and, as governing bodies stumble through the moral maze, they are not served by intransigent attitudes and incendiary language.

It is 10 years since Caster semenya came to international prominence at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin. the sport is still struggling with her circumstances and those of other intersex athletes. Yet asked about the case this week, Dr Payoshni Mitra, an athletes rights activist who has testified for semenya against the IAAF, said: ‘the witch hunt of young women with high testosterone is going on…’

Witch hunt? What rubbish. this is sport’s governing bodies trying to find balance and fairness in competition. they mean no harm, no ill to any individual. they make no judgment on personal choices beyond the way they might impact the playing field.

And no doubt they wish they did not have to rule at all. But they do. there is no right and no wrong, but there must be rules. so here we all are.