The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has taken a significant step towards gender equality in cricket by announcing that the women’s cricket team will now receive match fees at par with the men’s team. This decision comes after a recommendation from the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket, which has identified 44 changes to address issues of discrimination based on color and caste.
Previously, female players received 25 percent of the match fee for One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 (T20) matches, and 15 percent for Test matches, in comparison to their male counterparts. However, this disparity will now be eliminated, marking a significant milestone in the journey towards gender parity in cricket.
Richard Gould, the chief of the England Cricket Board, expressed that this change is just the beginning of a broader effort to provide equal status to both men’s and women’s cricket. The decision to pay women cricketers the same match fees as men is seen as a substantial investment in women’s cricket, with the commitment to further support and develop the sport.
