Cricket Australia (CA) and the Australian Cricketers’ Association have announced a new five-year memorandum of understanding that will see professional women players benefit from a landmark $634m pay deal.

The majority of women’s cricketers on minimum contracts will now earn over $100,000 annually. Under the new agreement, minimum and average CA women’s contracts will rise by 25%, and the number of contracts will increase from 15 to 18. Domestic players who play for both WNCL (50 over) and WBBL (T20) formats but not for Australia can now earn an average of $151,019 annually, inclusive of match fees. This now makes them the highest-paid female players of team sports in Australia.

The WBBL salary cap will also increase to $732,000 per year in a bid to keep pace with the women’s Hundred in England, India’s WPL and other franchise leagues.

“Cricket now clearly offers the best earning opportunities of any team sport for elite female sportspeople,” CA CEO Nick Hockley said.

“I am particularly pleased this MOU represents another major step forward in the rise of women’s cricket with significant increases in remuneration for the inspirational role models of the world champion Australian women’s team and the WBBL who are driving substantial growth in female participation.”

Centrally-contracted Australian male players will see their pay increase by 7.5% to an average of $951,000 before match payments, and the squad will increase to 24 players. On a domestic level, the men’s BBL salary cap will increase from $2m to $3m, allowing the league’s top earners to be paid up to $420,000.

Overall, the changes represent a 26% pay rise for players across the sport, with the deal the first done between Hockley and ACA counterpart Todd Greenberg.

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Courtesy The Guardian