Cricket Australia Boost Women’s Pay, Extend Gatorade Partnership

Cricket Australia, along with the Australian Cricketers’ Association, has announced a $1.2 million investment to increase the average base salaries for Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) and Women’s National Cricket League (WNCL) athletes.

With the increased pay, a female athlete who is contracted in both the WBBL and WNCL will receive a base salary of at least $65,000 each season, increasing by over $10,000 compared to 2020.

Cricket Australia CEO, Nick Hockley, said the organisation made a significant step, but admitted there is a large gap remaining between male and female cricketers.

“[We] won’t rest until there is genuine parity across all elements of the game,” Hockley said.

“We pride ourselves over recent years on really leading the charge about driving equality in cricket and particularly investing in the growth of cricket as a sport for women and girls.

“But there’s still a gap, there’s still a really big gap, as compared to their male counterparts.

“And we want to keep striving to make it a really attractive and credible full-time professional career for our up-and-coming female cricketers,” he said.

While the increase has seen the average base salary for women cricketers rise to $65,000, the average base salary for male players who are across all formats of domestic cricket is $198,000.

Elsewhere, Cricket Australia has announced a three-year partnership extension with Gatorade, with the partnership to launch a new digital content series, ‘Fuelling Greatness’.

The digital series will feature top Australian cricketers Pat Cummins, Beth Mooney, and Alex Carey, and will focus on the perseverance and preparation of Australian cricketers.

PepsiCo Beverages senior marketing manager, Tracy Hardwick, said Gatorade will work to support not just the Australian national men’s and women’s teams, but all levels of community cricket.

“We are excited to be continuing our longstanding partnership with Cricket Australia,” Hardwick said.

“Hydration and fuel are key to keeping athletes at their best, both in training and on game day and Gatorade is scientifically formulated with over 50 years of research making it the perfect partner for cricket.

“It’s great to be able to extend our support to cricket clubs around the country as they return to play, after a difficult 18 months,” Hardwick said.