England Cricket Board Announces Equal Pay For Women’s Team

In recent news, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced that they would equalize match fees for all cricket players, regardless of gender. England now counts itself as one of the countries offering equal pay to both its male and female players, following India,  South Africa, and New Zealand, among others. 

The announcement came following the England women's success in multi-format Women's Ashes series which saw record-breaking crowds at Edgbaston, the Oval, and Lord's stadiums, with matches being sold out at Taunton, Bristol, and Hampshire in their series against Australia. Whilst the series ended in a draw with Australia keeping the Ashes, England's national women's team won the ODI and T20I series.

Increase of Match Fees

The International Cricket Council (ICC) published a statement by the ECB CEO Richard Gould on the increase of match fees to equalize them across genders. "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," Gould said. 

"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," Gould added. 

"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," the CEO of the ECB stated. "However, we know there is still much further to go as we ultimately strive for equality across the game," he stated. 

The increase in match fees for the women's team will be put into effect immediately, beginning with the women's national team's next match against Sri Lanka on 31 August. 

Reaction

Heather Knight, the English women's national cricket team captain, called the news a fantastic development in making the sport appealing to women and girls. "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," she said. 

She commented on how making the women's game more accessible for potential sportswomen has been the most essential thing, stating that she was sure "this will make cricket an increasingly attractive sport to girls and young women as we continue to grow the game."

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