Australia’s female cricketers will share in an increased payment pool of $133m, while the WBBL salary cap has been doubled in a major boon for women’s sport.
A new five-year memorandum of understanding between Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers’ Association was announced Monday, with significant wage increases and structural changes across the men’s and women’s games.
The highest paid Australian women’s cricketer will be able to earn more than $800,000 a year through national and WBBL contracts, with the capacity for that to exceed $1m annually through stints in the Women’s Premier League in India and The Hundred in the UK.
Women in the domestic competitions will earn on average $151,019 by playing in both the WNCL and WBBL competitions, which will make cricketers the highest paid female athletes in Australian team sports.
ACA chief executive Todd Greenberg said there was “enormous capacity” for growth in the women’s game, with the association and CA eager to explore the “untapped potential” of women’s cricket and the BBL.
“We believe that the outcome from this new deal lays the foundation for that growth,” Greenberg said.
“Our men and women will benefit from significant investment into the BBL and WBBL, which will help ensure we have the best players playing – something that is fundamental to the success of any sporting competition.”
Women will be paid $133m over five years, up from $80m over the previous five-year agreement, with the WBBL total payment pool to double from $366k to $732k per year.
Each state and territory will be granted two more contracts to award to female players, while at the national level the number of central contracts for both men and women will increase.
CA women’s contracts can now be awarded to up to 18 players under the new MOU, while the men’s central contracts will rise from 17 to 20 to 20 to 24.
By the 2026-27 season, the average CA men’s contract will be more than $1m, with the greater number of deals likely introduced to help retain the services of specialist white-ball players amid an increase in global T20 tournaments.
The BBL total payment pool has increased 50 per cent from $2m to $3m in a bid to remain competitive with other T20 competitions, including in South Africa and the UAE, with the average per-game payment to more than double from $7815 last season to $16,667.
“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,” CA chief executive Nick Hockley said.
“These negotiations were conducted in a constructive spirit of partnership and with the best interests of the game at heart.”
