The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has announced that the women’s team are to receive the same match fees as the men.
Richard Gould, chief executive of the ECB, said “This summer’s thrilling Women’s Ashes series demonstrated how women’s cricket is continuing to grow at pace in this country, with record attendances and TV viewing. Growing the women’s and girls’ game is a key priority for us, and in recent years we have considerably increased investment both in building a domestic women’s structure to produce the players of the future, and in increasing player rewards. In the years ahead we will continue to invest ahead of revenues. We are considering all the recommendations made by the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket, but equalising match fees is one immediate step we are pleased to make now. We all want cricket to be the team sport of choice for female athletes, and with the investments we are making – and increasingly lucrative opportunities around the world – we are seeing cricketers become some of the highest earning female athletes in UK team sports. However, we know there is still much further to go as we ultimately strive for equality across the game.”
The ICEC report into discrimination within cricket found that women are paid an average of 20.6% of the salary that a man earns, with the maximum contract for a woman in The Hundred being £31,250 while for men it is £125,000. However, England captain Heather Knight said “It’s mad when you look back to 2010 when I started, we barely got expenses. To now be in a position to be professional and earn a decent living from the game is obviously really pleasing. It’s a reward for what’s been a remarkable summer. The Ashes felt like a real watershed moment. This is following on from that and just another progression. It’s really pleasing but hopefully there are more things down the line that will continue to improve.”
