Dean Jones feels both Indian men and women cricketers should have equal earnings

Recently, Cricket Australia brought an end to the 10-month long pay dispute between the board and the cricketers. CA announced the signing of a new Memorandum of Understanding, to which the players agreed. One of the most significant and key points of the new MoU is the gender-equality pay model, introduced by Cricket Australia. The model states that both men and female cricketers would be paid equally.

Former Aussie cricketer Dean Jones praised CA’s decision to introduce the new gender-equality model. This development is the biggest pay rise in the history of Women’s sport in Australia. However, Dean also felt that women cricketers in India should also receive the same pay as the men. He credited the ladies for their incredible campaign in England in the World Cup and suggested that BCCI should reward the eves with the similar increase in earnings as done by the Aussies.

“The best part of the whole press release sent by CA was that the women cricketers are getting equal pay as the men. Hopefully, it would happen to Indian women cricketers as well. After what the Indian women have done at the recent World Cup, young girls [in India] are inspired to play cricket for their country,” stated Dean Jones in a conversation with Cricbuzz over the recent pay-dispute in Australia.

Fitness has improved

The right-hander felt proud to see the women cricketers’ contributions on the field. He praised their improved fitness levels and power-hitting. “They have started to hit more sixes now. The women cricketers have certainly improved their power and their fitness. Australian women cricketers Meg Lanning and Ellyse Perry are being paid more money than Kane Williamson now,” said Dean Jones.

Pay dispute should be handled in a better way

Jones suggested that CA should have handled the pay-dispute issue in a better and organised manner. He further stated that James Sutherland, the CEO of CA should have dealt with the issue from the beginning. “I feel the pay dispute could have been handled a lot better by Cricket Australia. In hindsight, James Sutherland should have taken over right from the start. He has only been involved in the last month of the 10-month negotiations. Anyway we got the deal done and got ready to go. It’s unfortunate that it cost us the tour of Australia A to South Africa,” added Jones.