Cricket West Indies (CWI) has announced that the West Indies women’s team will receive the same travel and accommodation benefits as the men’s side. This includes flying in business class for long-haul international flights and staying in single rooms during international fixtures. Following the election of new CWI president Kishore Shallow, these decisions were made during the board of directors meeting.
Shallow explained that in order to promote gender equality and create an environment that fosters the growth and success of women’s cricket, such decisions have been taken.
“The women’s game in international cricket continues to evolve, and CWI must keep apace and, where possible, lead. Introducing these policies and adding a second female to the board as an independent director are monumental strides in the right direction,” said Shallow, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
CWI has also granted approval for the establishment of a new committee called the Women’s Cricket Transformation Committee. This committee will be dedicated to working towards achieving equality for women’s players within the cricketing framework.
“The committee’s remit will include but not be limited to recommending strategies geared towards increasing the interest and participation of women and girls in the sport, as well as proposing cricket competitions, events, and pathways that foster competitive women’s and girls’ cricket,” CWI said in a statement.
Wavell Hinds, the president and CEO of the West Indies Players Association (WIPA), expressed support and appreciation to CWI, hoping to achieve similar goals in the ongoing negotiations on the renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between CWI and WIPA for another four years.
“We welcome this move by CWI in the quest to achieve greater equality within our work environment among our cricketers. We look forward to achieving similar goals in our ongoing negotiations on the renewal of our MOU for another four-year period,” said Hinds.
