Aussie women cricketers get pay rise but 'big gap' remains
Australia's women cricketers will get a pay rise this year, administrators said.
SYDNEY (AFP) - Australia s women cricketers will get a pay rise this year, administrators said, while admitting that wages will still fall well short of the men s game.
Retainers for Big Bash League players will increase about 14 percent, Cricket Australia said, and players in the domestic cricket league will see a 22 percent rise.
Australia captain Meg Lanning said it was vindication.
"When you properly invest in female sport the results follow and everyone benefits -- the game, the fans and the players," she said.
Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley said the increase was a step forward.
But he admitted that "there s still a gap, there s still a really big gap, as compared to their male counterparts".
In total, the new package is worth Aus$1.2 million (US$880,000).
The average retainer for men playing all formats is said to be about $200,000 per person not including salary.
"We want to keep striving to make it a really attractive and credible full-time professional career for our up-and-coming female cricketers," Hockley said.
The dispute about equal pay has come into focus in several sports.
But it has become a high-profile and bitter dispute in United States soccer, where the women s game is extremely popular.
The United States Soccer Federation last month said it had offered "identical" contracts to its men s and women s national teams as part of efforts to end the dispute.
Tennis Grand Slams are among the sports that now offer equal prize money for men and women.
