Australian Women cricketers are in for some cheer as Cricket Australia announced an increase in the payments for all centrally contracted players. Female cricketers appeared to be the biggest gainers of this announcement as their pay will see a hike of around 66%.
A new five-year deal has been signed between Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers’ Association. The Australian Cricket board declared a pay hike of 66% across the span of the agreement. This hike will make the top paid Australian women earn AUD 800000 in a year. They will share in a pool worth AUD 133 million, up from AUD 80 million in the previous agreement, rewarding not only members of Australia’s world champion team but significantly increasing the value of Big Bash League and state contracts.
Here is how Cricket Australia segregated its new pay structure for its women
The deal could make the top Cricket Australia contract account holder who also has a Women’s Big Bash League contract, believed to be current Aussie skipper Meg Lanning, richer by more than AUD 800000 per year. The amount would increase further if the player plays the Women’s Premier League in India which started this year and The Hundred in England. The cumulative amount could top the AUD 1m mark.
Other facets of the deal include an increase in the number of players in the Women’s National Contract list- from 15 to 18. At the domestic level, the average pay for women’s players on state and WBBL contracts will increase to AUD 150,000 ($100,000).
Nick Hockley was very inspired to see the rise in women’s cricket for Australia
This pay rise for the Australian Women cricketers comes after similar developments in New Zealand and India towards the end of last year which saw the pay packets of the Women Cricketers increase to match their male counterparts. Speaking on the new deal, Cricket Australia Chief Nick Hockley said, “I am particularly pleased this MOU memorandum of understanding represents another major step forward in the rise of women*s cricket,”.
Hockley further added, ” Cricket now clearly offers the best earning opportunities of any teamsport for elite female sportspeople”. These moves will surely boost the Women’s game with more players being attracted to better pay.
