England cricketers receive a 30% pay rise and new multi-year contracts

England women cricketers will receive a pay rise of more than 30% when the next round of central contracts is released in October, with multi-year deals being offered for the first time.

The historic move to long-term contracts comes after the England and Wales Cricket Board signed multi-year contracts with some of England’s stars last year and will be a major boost for Heather Knight’s squad ahead of the Women’s T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates. next week.

England’s players flew to the United Arab Emirates earlier this week after reaching a collective agreement on new contracts. The value of the new contracts is estimated at between £90,000 and £130,000 a year, depending on the length of service and experience of the players, and some of them will have two-year contracts.

England will play title-holders Australia in a warm-up match on Sunday and will start the season against Bangladesh in Sharjah on October 5, before further group games against Scotland, the West Indies and South Africa. at least the semi-final.

The clear favorites, Australia and India, are in the second group of the tournament, which was moved to Sharjah and Dubai due to civil unrest in Bangladesh. All 15 Knight players are expected to receive new contracts. The ECB will sign around 18 full-time contracts, a similar number to last year, with the extra money going to provide players with higher salaries and greater security.

The increases were made possible by a new funding deal agreed between the ECB and the Professional Cricketers’ Association, which represents international players through the Team England Player Partnership and the England Women’s Player Partnership. The international wage deal is expected to mirror the ECB’s main broadcasting deal with Sky Sports, which has agreed to extend its four-year deal from 2025.

The England women will continue to receive the same match fees as the men’s teams under a policy introduced by the ECB last year, although for the players the pay increase will be more significant.

The Independent Commission for Equality in Cricket’s (ICEC) report on discrimination in sport, published last year, was critical of the ECB, stating that “women are paid an embarrassingly low amount compared to men”.

Among the 44 recommendations in the ICEC report, it called for the equalization of match fees “with immediate effect” and other forms of remuneration, including wages, by 2028. The ECB has made progress on the gender pay gap over the last 12 months and is expected to will ensure that next month it will receive another update on plans to implement ICEC recommendations.

The ECB has also committed an additional investment of £5 million a year to domestic women’s cricket from 2025, a significant proportion of which will go to the eight new First Division counties that have committed to spending at least £500,000 a year on player wages. Beth Barrett-Wild, director of women’s professional competitions, said this week that the ECB wants to ensure cricket is seen as an “enticing” career for women, rather than just a “profitable one”.

In addition to county funding, an extra £1m was allocated last year towards the pay of women in the 100, with the top salary now standing at £50,000, up from £15,000 when the 2021 competition was announced.

The ECB declined to comment.