On Monday, April 3, Cricket Australia announced that they had reached a new pay deal. All Australian women and Big Bash League players got a big pay raise because of the agreement. Pat Cummins, the captain of Australia’s team, will be the first cricketer to make $3 million, and Meg Lanning, the captain of the women’s team, could make $1 million.
Cricket Australia (CA) and the Australian Cricketers’ Association have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that says professional women cricketers will get a 66 percent pay raise over the next five years. The top CA player with a Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) contract can make more than $800,000 per year. With the captaincy, they can make more than $1 million between the Women’s Premier League (India) and The Hundred (UK).
Male players with contracts with Cricket Australia will see their pay go up by 7.5% in the first year and then by 2% each year for the next four years. Based on this, Pat Cummins has a salary of more than $2 million and earns a total of $3 million from Cricket Australia.
The top BBL players can now earn up to $3 million, up from $2 million before.
When a WBBL retainer and money from other competitions are added in, the next six CA contract holders are likely to make an average of $500,000 per year. As the number of franchise Twenty20 leagues grows, Cricket Australia raised the salary cap for the best male BBL players from $2 million to $3 million per club.
Mike Baird, the head of Cricket Australia, said that the new deal was a turning point for Australian cricket. He said that the board is proud to give a lot of help to the female athletes in the country. He also said that they have kept their male players in a commercial position so they can compete with the best players in the world.
“We’re proud of what we’ve seen for the women’s game today, which is a big boost that other sports in Australia can only dream of,” Mike Baird said. “We’ve also kept our men’s players in a good commercial position so they can compete with the best in the world.”