In a historic move, the International Cricket Council (ICC) introduced pay parity in terms of prize money in major events such as the Cricket World Cup, T20 World Cup and Under-19 World Cup. The ICC has been increasing the prize money of women’s competitions by almost five times for the last five years since 2018, before taking the big decision in Durban, South Africa, at the annual conference on Thursday, 13 July.
Announcing this through an ICC release, Council Chairman Greg Barclay said: “This is a momentous moment in the history of our sport and I am delighted that male and female cricketers competing in ICC global events can now be recognized equally. will be rewarded.
“We have increased prize money in women’s competitions every year since 2017 with a clear focus on reaching equal prize money and from now on, winning the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup will bring the same prize money as winning the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup And the same for the T20 World Cup and the Under-19s,” Barkley added.
Teams will now get equal prize money for being in the same position in comparable events as well as the same amount for each match. The winners of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 and 2023 received prize money of $1 million, five times that of the 2018 edition.
The prize money for the Women’s World Cup 2022 was $3.5 million, a 75 per cent increase from the $2 million prize money in the 2017 edition, with winners Australia winning $1.32 million in New Zealand last year.
This is a significant step in the empowerment and promotion of women’s sport, which has seen record viewership and attraction growth over the years.