‘Absolutely ridiculous’: SA allrounder Marizanne Kapp upset that trans cricketer Anaya Bangar has been allowed to play
For now, Anaya Bangar can play community cricket in Australia. She can also play the WBBL but she needs to meet some conditions before that happens.
South Africa allrounder Marizanne Kapp is upset that trans cricketer Anaya Bangar has been allowed to play community cricket in Australia, and that later she can also play in the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL), provided she meets the hormonal requirement.

36-year-old Kapp, who is nearing 300 international games for the South African team across formats, appears to be disgusted at the development. She took to Instagram and made it clear that she was unhappy. “Absolutely ridiculous, this should not be allowed.” Kapp wrote over an Australia Daily screenshot carrying a news item on Anaya. She also tagged the WBBL.
A few days ago, Anaya, who underwent genital surgery to become a trans woman earlier this year, informed fans about the development in an interview with the Indian Express. “It is a great day for me, especially after knowing that I can play cricket. There was a stage when I thought I would never play cricket again, but thanks to Cricket Australia, it has given me another chance,” the 25-year-old said.
Anaya had made a similar request to the BCCI but after she got no reply, she turned to Cricket Australia. Responding to Anaya’s request, CA Head of Integrity Jacqui Partridge wrote: “Until March 2027, you remain eligible to participate in Premier Cricket competitions in any State or Territory of Australia. As Premier Cricket is classified as Community Cricket rather than Elite Cricket under the Policy, your participation in those competitions is not affected by this determination.
“Your eligibility for Elite Cricket from that date (March 2027) is conditional upon you providing a blood test upon your arrival in Australia, confirming that your serum testosterone concentration remains below 10 nmol/L and that you continue to satisfy the Policy’s eligibility requirements."
Anaya, born as a biological male and whose father Sanjay Bangar played for India back in the day, has played age-group cricket with Sarfaraz Khan and his brother Musheer Khan. A BCCI official also told the Indian Express what the board was doing in the matter. “When it comes to the ICC, they have said no to it. BCCI is yet to decide what can be done in such cases. As this is the first time such a case has come up, the board is yet to take a stand. Especially on allowing them in domestic cricket,” the official said.
ABOUT THE AUTHORPrateek SrivastavaPrateek Srivastava is a senior sports journalist having been in the profession for two decades now. He started his print career with the India Today Group and later also worked for the Asian Age. In 2009, sensing the wind of change, he switched to the digital media and joined Mobile ESPN. There, he covered the 2011 Cricket World Cup and 2010 Hockey World Cup as a venue reporter. He did plenty of voice-over work too, over there. After leaving Mobile ESPN, Prateek went on to work for Cricketnext, Gocricket and Cricbuzz. At Gocricket (Times Internet Limited), he covered the 2014 T20 World from Bangladesh. There he also received a team leadership award, given at the end of the month. Prateek has also covered the 2016 T20 World Cup in India, this time working for Sportz Interactive. He also worked for Chinese giants Alibaba over two years and led their ""Short News"" content team at UC Browser. While cricket is Prateek’s expertise, he has also done a lot of golf. In fact, he has covered India’s first two European Tour events back in the late noughties. He has also done extensive writing on football having been associated with the Indian Super League for three seasons. Finally, Prateek is a literature aficionado and swears by Philip Roth and Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and when he doesn’t joke, he is usually quiet and at work.Read More



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