In a historic decision, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has announced an equal pay for the Men and Women cricketers. The recent Women's Ashes series between England and Australia witnessed a record-breaking crowd of 110,000 and following this, ECB has decided to increase the match fees of women cricketers and bring them in line with Men's in terms of match fees.
Taunton, Bristol and Hampshire were sold out during their series against Australia while new records were set for women's international attendance at Edgbaston, Kia Oval and Lord's. England Women's captain Heather Knight was delighted with the support and even went on to term the series as "the best there's ever been in the history of the women's game." Coming back to ECB's historic decision, the new changes take effect immediately from the series against Sri Lanka beginning this week.
Knight was happy with the ECB over the decision and felt it was important to attract more girls to the sport in the country. She also thanked England Women's Player Partnership for their continued support and efforts to grow Women's game. "It’s really important that we continue to drive the women’s game forward and it’s fantastic to see equal match fees for England Women and England Men. The direction of travel for the women’s game has always been the most important thing, creating a sustainable product that people want to watch and play, and I’m sure this will make cricket an increasingly attractive sport to girls and young women as we continue to grow the game.
"I would also like to thank the PCA and England Women’s Player Partnership for their support in representing the players and the growth of the professional game," she said. England Women are scheduled to face Sri Lanka Women from August 31 in a three-match T20I series. The two teams will also lock horns against each other in three ODIs starting from September 9.
