ICC announces equal prize money for men’s and women’s events

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced that, going forward, it will be allocating equal prize money to the winners of both its men’s and women’s competitions.

The decision is part of the ICC’s goal to gain “prize money parity by 2030”. All teams in the men’s and women’s events will get equal prize money for same-position finishes, including getting the same amount for winning a game at these events. 

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Greg Barclay, Chairman, ICC, commented:

“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. The success of our media rights and commercial programme for our next four-year cycle means we are able to invest more money than ever before into our sport.

“All Members will receive a base distribution and then additional revenue will be in relation to contribution to the global game both on and off the field. This is by far the largest level of investment ever to go into cricket and it’s a once-in-a-generation opportunity for our Members to accelerate growth and engage more players and fans and drive competitiveness.“

The Chief Executives’ Committee also made changes to the “over-rate sanctions” in Tests to get a better balance between maintaining over rates and “ensuring fair remuneration for the players”. The change will take place with the start of the current World Test Championship cycle, which will see players subjected to “a fine equivalent to 5% of their match fee for every over that falls short, with a maximum penalty capped at 50%.”

The ICC has also announced that, if a team is bowled out before 80 overs and the new ball is not due, the over-rate penalty will not be imposed irrespective of potential delays. 

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Sourav Ganguly, Committee Chair, ICC Men’s Cricket, commented:

“The ICC World Test Championship has injected renewed energy into Test cricket giving it a 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 Men’s Cricket Committee felt strongly that over-rate penalties in the form of WTC points deductions should remain but recommended that players should not have 100% of their match fee at risk. We believe this provides a balance between maintaining over-rates and ensuring we are not deterring players from playing Test cricket.“