“We wanted to address the historic disparity between male and female players,” CA chief executive James Sutherland said on Tuesday.
“It really is a landmark moment, it’s something we’re very excited about. It’s a landmark moment for cricket and for women’s sport in this country.”
It will mean cricket can offer women the opportunity to have a fully professional sporting career at both international and domestic levels.
“As a result, our international women cricketers will see their average pay increase from $79,000 to $179,000, as of July 1 this year. By 2021, we expect to see our international women cricketers earning an average of $210,000,” Sutherland said.
“And our state female cricketers, playing both WNCL and WBBL, will see their average remuneration more than double from $22,000 to $52,000 this year.”
CA has been under pressure to ensure cricket is a viable career pathway for female athletes. The success of the Women’s Big Bash League over summer and the burgeoning interest in women’s sport in general has compounded this pressure.
“We are pleased that the Australian Cricketers Association agrees with us that women, for the first time, should be part of the MOU, and we have proposed a financial model that has gender equity at its heart,” Sutherland said.
“Cricket has led the charge on providing a real sporting career path for women, and this offer locks in all that hard work of the past few years. It is truly an historic development which allows us to say with confidence that cricket is a sport for all Australians.”