Women’s Hundred: ECB to invest £800,000 in wages to attract global talent

The England and Wales Cricket Board is set to invest £800,000 in salary wages in the Women’s Hundred to attract global talent for the upcoming edition of the competition. It will also close down the gender pay gap in the league, with men's salaries set to be frozen for the third straight season.

As per ESPNcricinfo, the salary cap will increase by 40% for all the teams in the league. In 2022, each team had a salary cap of £250,000, while now they will have £350,000. Meanwhile, the top two highest earners in the squad used to earn £31,250 in 2023 but under the new system, they will earn £50,000.

Meanwhile, the pay gap in Women’s Hundred is huge compared to the Women’s Premier League in India. Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Smriti Mandhana is the highest-paid cricketer in the league earning INR 3.4 crore (£320,000), miles ahead of what ECB is offering. In the last edition of the competition, Australian duo Tahlia McGrath and Ashleigh Gardner backed out as the monetary value wasn’t very satisfactory.

Salaries in the men's Hundred are due to stay the same as in 2023. The highest-paid cricketer will earn £125,000 and there’s a salary cap of £1 million per squad. The Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) called for equal pay in Men’s and Women’s Hundred by 2025 but ECB is yet to consider their recommendation as the gap remains to be huge.

Even after a boost in salary, the women cricketers will earn on average 35% of their male counterparts. Even though it’s 10% more than they used to earn in 2023, the difference remains huge. A lot of national bodies have adopted equal pay for male and female cricketers but it’s a long way to go in franchise cricket.

The upcoming edition of the Women’s Hundred is set to take place during July and August. It will give the players a great platform ahead of the T20 World Cup, which should attract more participation from overseas players.