Cricket is set to become the first sport in Australia where female athletes will earn a six-figure wage, with domestic female cricket players to earn an average of AUD 151,000 from next season. A new pay deal is being finalised by Cricket Australia (CA) and the players’ union, and a Memorandum of Understanding is expected to be announced soon.
The negotiations between CA and the players’ union have been cordial this time and relatively calm, unlike the pay war of 2017, which resulted in abandoned tours and threats of strikes. The lowest-paid players with state and Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) contracts will earn AUD 83,000, and state squad sizes will increase from 14 to 16 across each of the seven Women’s National Cricket League (WNCL) sides.
The new deal will raise the average salary of domestic female cricket players to AUD 123,000, and when match fees are added, the average salary will be AUD 151,000. In contrast, the minimum salary for players with a low pay scale WNCL and WBBL contracts was AUD 70,000 last year. The salary offered in cricket is significantly higher than the minimum wage in other women’s sports such as Super Netball, AFLW, NRLW, and A-League Women’s.
The new pay deal is expected to increase contract values for overseas and Australia’s centrally contracted players in the WBBL to keep the league competitive with other franchise tournaments. The hope is that the pay rise will continue to attract the best overseas talent to Australia, making the tournament stand out in global women’s cricket. The deal also means that Australia’s centrally contracted players can earn close to AUD 1 million per season when considering national deals and big-money offers from the Women’s Premier League (WPL).
Notably, Aussie cricketers bagged huge paychecks in the WPL and dominated the inaugural league’s players’ auction. While Ashleigh Gardner was bought for a whopping Rs 3.2 crore in the WPL 2023, Beth Mooney and Ellyse Perry were roped in for Rs 2 and 1.7 crore. A total of Rs 14.25 were spent on Australian athletes in the inaugural WPL auction.
