eBusiness Weekly
England women’s cricketers will earn as much as their male colleagues from match fees, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced on Wednesday.
In a statement, the ECB said the change will be effective immediately, beginning with this week’s white-ball series against Sri Lanka.
The increase in women’s match fees was recommended in the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) report, which found a significant pay gap existed between men and women.
According to the report, which was released at the end of June, women received 25 percent of the men’s fees for white-ball formats. For Test cricket, the figure dropped to 15 percent.
Payments vary depending on where the opposition sit in a five-tier system — Australia are the only team currently in the top tier — devised by the ECB. Test matches are far more lucrative than white-ball internationals.
This summer, each of the players in the men’s squad earned £15 000 for each of the five Tests against Australia.
That meant England women’s players received £2,250 for their only Test in the Women’s Ashes and less than £1 000 for white-balls international — the men’s, by comparison earned around £3 500.
The ICEC report, which also highlighted racism, sexism and elitism pervaded the game in England, found the average salary for England women’s players was 20,6 percent of that of an England men player.
The England women’s captain’s allowance, meanwhile, was less than a third of that awarded to the men’s captain.
“It’s really important that we continue to drive the women’s game forward and it’s fantastic to see equal match fees for England Women and England Men,” England Women’s captain Heather Knight said.
“The direction of travel for the women’s game has always been the most important thing, creating a sustainable product that people want to watch and play, and I’m sure this will make cricket an increasingly attractive sport to girls and young women as we continue to grow the game.’
The increase in match fees comes on the back of a successful summer for women’s cricket, with the Women’s Ashes series attracting a combined 110 000 fans through the turnstiles.
England set new women’s international attendance records at Edgbaston, the Kia Oval and Lord’s and sold out matches at Taunton, Bristol and Hampshire in their series against Australia.
The Aussies retained the Ashes after winning the only Test, but England won both the T20 and ODI series in thrilling fashion.
ECB chief executive Richard Gould said: “We are currently 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 additional investment follows increases to domestic salary pots this year, while salaries for women’s players in The Hundred more than doubled last year.
Gould said the ECB will “continue to invest ahead of revenues” in the coming years, adding it would place particular focus on growing the women’s game. — dailymailsport
