The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced they will pay equal prize money for men’s and women’s teams at all ICC tournaments and world cups.
The ICC board made a decision at their Annual Conference in Durban, South Africa, to achieve prize money equity by 2030 ahead of schedule. Teams will now receive equal prize money for equivalent finishing positions and for winning matches at comparable events, regardless of gender.
SkySports reported that the ICC chair Greg Barclay said, "This is a significant moment in the history of our sport, and I am delighted that men's and women's cricketers competing at ICC global events will now be rewarded equally.
"Since 2017 we have increased prize money at women's events every year with a clear focus on reaching equal prize money and from here on in, winning the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup will carry the same prize money as winning the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup and the same for T20 World Cups and U19s too.
"Cricket is genuinely a sport for all and this decision from the ICC Board reinforces that and enables us to celebrate and value every single player's contribution to the game equally."
In addition, the ICC board also approved the largest-ever investment into the sport and agreed on a distribution model for the next four years. This enhanced funding will benefit all ICC Members, with a strategic investment fund dedicated to driving global growth initiatives aligned with the ICC's Global Growth Strategy.
The prize money for ICC women's events has certainly increased significantly across the past decade, however, the gap is still large.
But we are moving in the right direction & equal pay wouldn't be a question anymore. #CWC22 pic.twitter.com/bQzkYeJg41— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) February 16, 2022
Changes to ICC sanctioning regulations were also approved to support sustainable revenue streams and game development while preserving the integrity and welfare of participants. New events seeking ICC sanction will be required to include a minimum of seven local or Associate Member players in each team's playing XI. A solidarity fee will also be introduced to compensate the home board of a player for their role in developing and promoting the sport globally.
Furthermore, the Chief Executives' Committee (CEC) made changes to over-rate sanctions in Test cricket to ensure a balance between maintaining over-rates and appropriately remunerating players.
Players will now be fined five percent of their match fee for each over short, up to a maximum of 50 percent. If a team is bowled out before the new ball is due at 80 overs, no over-rate penalty will be applied, even if there is a slow over rate. This replaces the current 60-over threshold.
BREAKING: The ICC has announced they will pay equal prize money for men’s and women’s teams at ICC tournaments including world cups 💰 pic.twitter.com/7CIL63dcPB
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) July 13, 2023
ICC Men's Cricket Committee chair Sourav Ganguly said: "The ICC World Test Championship has injected renewed energy into Test cricket, giving it compelling context. In the last edition, we only had 12 draws in 69 matches, and we want to ensure that trend continues whilst we're giving fans the best value for money and keeping over-rates up.
The CEC agreed this amendment would be retrospective and applied from the start of the current World Test Championship cycle.
