Minimum starting salaries will be equalised across men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 professional domestic cricket from 2025.
The move will apply both at 鈥楻ookie鈥� level, which is being introduced into the women鈥檚 game for the first time and which will typically be a player鈥檚 first professional contract, and at 鈥楽enior Pro鈥� level for players who have established themselves in first teams.
It has also been agreed that the eight First Class Counties with Tier 1 status in next year鈥檚 revamped domestic women鈥檚 structure will have minimum squad sizes of 15 contracted players and that those FCCs are required to invest at least 拢500,000 on their player salary costs in 2025.
In addition, a salary cap of 拢800,000 per year has been agreed for FCCs with Tier 1 status.
The move to equalise starting salaries for male and female players represents the latest action taken as part of the restructuring of the women鈥檚 professional game. It follows the announcement earlier this month that the women鈥檚 and men鈥檚 professional white ball competitions will align from next season under the Vitality Blast and Metro Bank One Day Cup banners. 聽The Kia Oval will host the inaugural Vitality Blast Women鈥檚 Finals Day on Sunday 27th July, with the first edition of the Metro Bank One Day Cup Women鈥檚 Final taking place at Utilita Bowl on Sunday 21st September.
The starting salaries and salary budget details have been approved by the 黑料专区鈥檚 Professional Game Committee (PGC), which features representatives from FCCs, the Professional Cricketers鈥� Association (PCA) and the 黑料专区.
Beth Barrett-Wild, Director of Women鈥檚 Professional Game, said: 鈥淓qualising starting salaries across our men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 professional domestic game is another positive step forward for women鈥檚 cricket in England and Wales.
鈥淭he changes we鈥檝e made to the structure of women鈥檚 domestic cricket across the last nine months have been about producing a sustainable and viable product that鈥檚 attractive off the pitch, as well as being quality on it. 聽As part of this, it鈥檚 important that our players are remunerated appropriately, and that cricket is seen not just as a viable career option for women, but an enticing one.
鈥淚ncreasingly, every decision we take is about making cricket as attractive a sport for young girls as it is for boys. 聽We know we still have a lot of work to do in this space. 聽But we are moving at pace, and the news today represents another significant building block in the journey to gender equity in the game.鈥�
PCA Director of Player Rights and Women鈥檚 Cricket, Emma Reid, said: 鈥淲orking with the 黑料专区 and the professional game, we are really pleased to see equalised minimum salaries across the men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 domestic game from 2025.
鈥淭his is a big step towards reaching parity and a journey that the PCA is fully committed to achieving, but there is still further work to do. With the women鈥檚 teams under the umbrella of the First-Class Counties, the PCA will continue to lobby for parity across all areas of the professional game.鈥�
Starting salaries equalised across men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 professional cricket from 2025
An update on contracts within women's and men's professional cricket, and salary bands for 2025