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Starting Salaries Equalised Across Men’s And Women’s Professional Cricket From 2025
Starting salaries equalised across men’s and women’s professional cricket from 2025
Minimum starting salaries will be equalised across men’s and women’s professional domestic cricket from 2025
The move will apply at both the ‘Rookie’ level—introduced into the women’s game for the first time as a player's first professional contract—and the ‘Senior Pro’ level for established first-team players.
It has been agreed that Hampshire, along with the other seven First-Class Counties with Tier 1 status in next year’s revamped domestic women’s structure, will maintain minimum squad sizes of 15 contracted players. These counties are also required to invest at least £500,000 in player salaries for 2025.
Additionally, a salary cap of £800,000 per year has been set for FCCs with Tier 1 status.
This move to equalize starting salaries for male and female players is part of the ongoing restructuring of the women’s professional game. It follows the recent announcement that the women’s and men’s professional white-ball competitions will align under the Vitality Blast and Metro Bank One Day Cup banners starting next season.
The Kia Oval will host the inaugural Vitality Blast Women’s Finals Day on Sunday, 27th July, while the first Metro Bank One Day Cup Women’s Final will take place at Utilita Bowl on Sunday, 21st September.
The changes we’ve made to the structure of women’s domestic cricket across the last nine months have been about producing a sustainable and viable product that’s attractive off the pitch, as well as being quality on it.
As part of this, it’s important that our players are remunerated appropriately, and that cricket is seen not just as a viable career option for women, but an enticing one.
Increasingly, every decision we take is about making cricket as attractive a sport for young girls as it is for boys. We know we still have a lot of work to do in this space. But we are moving at pace, and the news today represents another significant building block in the journey to gender equity in the game.
Beth Barrett-Wild, Director of the Women's Professional Game
This is a great step forward as we see the professionalisation of domestic women's cricket grow and grow.
Last summer, we regularly fielded teams of out-and-out professional players, and we are delighted we will be able to continue to do so.
This news will help continue to raise the standards for women's cricket up and down the country as we all move towards a new era of the domestic game.
Adam Carty, Regional Director of Women’s Cricket
Earlier this year, the ECB announced that, beginning with the 2025 season, men’s and women’s professional domestic T20 and 50-over competitions will be fully aligned for the first time. This marks a major milestone in the growth and advancement of women’s professional cricket.
This alignment will see men’s and women’s teams competing side by side in both the Vitality Blast and the Metro Bank One Day Cup, further enhancing the visibility and reach of the women’s game.
Tier 2 of the women’s domestic structure will feature two competitions: the Vitality Blast Women’s League 2 and the Metro Bank One-Day Cup Women’s League 2. Their finals will be held at Northampton's Wantage Road and Worcestershire's New Road, respectively.
Additionally, the ECB has introduced the inaugural Women’s T20 County Cup, a knockout competition featuring teams from all three tiers of the women’s domestic pyramid. The Finals Day for this competition will take place at the Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton, on Monday, 26th May.
