Australia Women will see a massive AUD 53 million increase in pay as per the new five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) struck between Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers’ Association.
According to the new MoU, the Australian male and female professional cricketers will share a projected AUD 634m over the next five years, which is a 26 per cent jump from the existing agreement. In a major move, the country’s female cricketers will now be paid from a AUD 133 million pool, as compared to the AUD 80m previously. While the minimum and average women’s contract will see a 25% jump, the number of contracts too have been increased from 15 to 18.
As such, the annual earnings of a top-flight centrally contracted female Australian cricketer can cross AUD 800,000 on an average for the next five years, including their WBBL contract, match fees and marketing payments, with potential to cross the 1 million barrier with further earnings from India’s Women’s Premier League and UK’s The Hundred.
At the domestic level, the minimum WBBL retainer has seen an immediate hike of 30 per cent. The average WBBL retainer will now approximately double from AUD 26,900 to 54,200. With up to two additional contracts being offered per state going forward, there will be up to 130 contracts available across the national and domestic sides and another 120 in the WBBL. Overall, the deal will make the country’s female cricketers the highest-paid women’s athletes in Australian team sport.
“This MOU represents another major step forward in the rise of women’s cricket, with significant increases in remuneration for the inspirational role models of the world champion Australian Women’s team and the WBBL who are driving substantial growth in female participation,” CA chief executive Nick Hockley said. “At the same time, we have recognised the need to ensure that the BBL remains highly competitive in a changing global cricket landscape and we’re confident this agreement will help maintain its place at the heart of the Australian summer.”
The per year salary cap for the WBBL teams has doubled to more than AUD 732,000, while for BBL the annual total payment pool now stands at 3 million (up from 2m) per team, meaning top players in the men’s competition can potentially make AUD 420,000 per season. The average retainer is now at AUD 167,000 while the minimum contract has seen a 20 per cent increase. A central aspect of the MoU negotiation for men was to ensure that the BBL, going forward, could offer lucrative paycheque to retain cricketers amidst the sprouting leagues around the globe.
Recognising the number of players selected nationally across formats, the no. of men’s contracts are set to jump from 17-20 to 20-24. Centrally contracted men will get a hike of 7.5 per cent when new deals are announced later in the week, to an average of AUD 951,000. This will see a further boost of 2 per cent per year, meaning the contract value would stand at AUD 1.2m annually in 2027-28.
The previously agreed 30% player share of revenue – as signed in the 2017 MoU – has been
