Australian women in sport have just made history – the Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars will be the highest paid women’s team sport in the country.
Many of the players – who recently lost to the West Indies in the World Twenty20 final in India – will now be able to earn in excess of $100,000 per contracted season, almost double the salaries in some cases.
Cricket Australia announced the news this afternoon, and in all, they’re committing a sum of $4.23 million to elite female cricketers, up from $2.36 million.
Aligning with Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA), the board will be improving travel and accommodation benefits and health insurance, an updated policy surrounding pregnancy, restricted weekday hours to support players who work or study, and reduced commercial restrictions for WNCL and WBBL players seeking external sponsorship deals.
Maximum retainers for the Southern Star players have gone up from $49,000 to $65,000, with the Women’s Big Bash players facing an increase as well. The payments for players on the Women’s National Cricket League will be hiked up from $7,000 to $11,000, with top cricketers earning $26,000.
“Cricket is a sport for all Australians and Cricket Australia will continue to invest heavily in the women’s game in the coming years,” they said in a statement.
“We have worked constructively with the Australian Cricketers’ Association to reach this point and will continue to do so in our ongoing efforts to improve wages and workplace conditions for all elite female cricketers.”
They continued: “The Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars have achieved great success on the world stage, including making it through to the recent final of the ICC World T20 in India, and are great role models for the next generation of Australia’s aspiring female cricketers. The Women’s Big Bash League has created a revolution with outstanding ratings that make it the most popular women’s team sport in the country.”
“Of the more than 1.2 million people of all ages currently playing cricket in Australia, almost a quarter of them are women and girls. That number continues to grow rapidly and we will continue to support females playing the game from backyard to baggy green.”
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