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Telegraph
03-04-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
County Championship season set for controversial cut
Andrew believes there is more of an appetite for change among county leaders three years on, with the global landscape of the game changing rapidly and the Professional Cricketers' Association regularly calling for a reduction in the overall volume of cricket. ECB officials say there is little interest in reducing the Championship to 10 matches – the number played in Australia's Sheffield Shield – but there is much discussion about dropping to 12. In addition, the 14 matches played in the Vitality Blast is in line for a cut to 12 – some will push for 10. Andrew said 'there's a feeling the Blast needs a refresh, to give it that renewed energy lost a little bit through the Hundred in recent years'. Meanwhile, it is understood that there is a desire to see a portion of the Metro Bank One-Day Cup played at the start of the season, not entirely under the Hundred. 'Nothing is on the table and nothing is off the table,' Andrew said. 'It's very different to what happened in the high-performance review. This is a county-led review. As the ECB we will work with our stakeholders, including the players. Everyone recognises the schedule is not perfect or optimal. The difficult thing is finding a solution. '[Volume of cricket] is at the heart of the debate. The PCA have made clear how men's players feel. We have heard from the directors of cricket. How can we provide an improved narrative for competitions, as well as performance? The high-performance review was very much focused on performance only, performance of the England team. We are looking at this is in a slightly different way. 'The Championship is the blue ribbon of red-ball cricket' 'We have 18 counties that agree that it's not right but 19 different versions of what the answer is. Our job is to pull those views together and get to a schedule that protects all three domestic competitions. The Championship is the blue ribbon of red-ball cricket in the world. We need to protect, grow and strengthen it because we want that to continue long into the future. What that looks like in terms of the number of games that are played will come out in the wash. 'This decision lies with the counties and their chairs, and if we cannot get sufficient agreement, there is no change to domestic cricket. That is written in the articles of the ECB. There's a feeling that we can improve all three competitions for all parties and set that out for a number of years so there is certainty, security and consistency.' The starting gun was fired on the review at a meeting of all 18 first-class counties at Lord's on Tuesday, and Andrew hoped a consultation period could have a solution within 'two to three months', to be implemented for the 2026 season, which is also likely to be the first with a full bells-and-whistles Hundred tournament, following the sale of stakes in the eight teams earlier this year. Andrew promised that fans and county members would be consulted on the matter. Chief executives from six counties, the PCA and the ECB have been working in a 'steering group' on potential domestic structures. The review itself will be managed by the ECB's Professional Game Committee, which is led by Mark McCafferty, the Warwickshire chair. Meanwhile, Richard Gould, the ECB chief executive, says there is not 'any risk' of any of the eight Hundred sales collapsing, and expects them all to proceed at the price agreed at auctions, despite wrangling with investors that has led the period of exclusivity on the negotiations extended. Gould, who travelled to India this week to meet investors, with Hundred MD Vikram Banerjee (who is still there) admitting that negotiations could take another month.
BBC News
03-04-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Equal Hundred pay 'realistic', says PCA chief
Equalising pay between women and men in The Hundred is a realistic ambition, according to Professional Cricketers' Association chief executive Daryl England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has not implemented a recommendation from the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket for equal pay in the competition by this the pay gap between top men's and women's players has widened from £75,000 to £135,000, a move that "looks bad", according to former England women's captain Heather there is optimism the pay gap will close after sales of stakes in the eight Hundred teams were agreed in February."There is work to do on the commercialisation of women's sport. It's probably the biggest growth area, not just in cricket, but any sport," Mitchell told BBC Sport."Hopefully, we'll be sat here in 10 years' time with a commercial reality that it's on an equal footing to men's sport, it's watched by similar numbers of people around the world and Sky pay the same amount they do for men's cricket. I don't see why that shouldn't be the ambition."Equal pay is a realistic ambition, certainly, and it should be the ambition to make it that way."The large disparity between the top men's and women's players came as part of a salary increase designed to attract leading men's players to The salaries increased across the board, it was the top men's bracket that was given the biggest hike, up from £125,000 to £200, sales of stakes in The Hundred franchises, worth around £520m, to private investors are likely to bring changes to the competition, including greater alignment to other leagues across the globe, more overseas players and bigger the ECB has extended the eight-week window for deals to be completed, they are still expected to go through. And Mitchell believes salaries will have to increase further if the ECB is to fulfil its aim of making The Hundred the second-biggest franchise tournament behind the Indian Premier League."There are some big players that have come into the room in terms of investing in The Hundred," said former Worcestershire captain Mitchell."The ambition is for The Hundred to be the second-best tournament, behind the IPL. If that's the case, salaries need to match those ambitions. That's what we'll be in discussions about."Hundred salaries, along with regulations around no-objection certificates – the mechanism that permits English players to feature in overseas leagues – were a source of tension between the PCA and ECB at the end of last Mitchell says the two organisations have found more common ground on the issues during the early part of focus for the players' body in recent years has been the domestic schedule, particularly the congested nature of the T20 Blast often requires players to feature in matches on back-to-back days or even pivot from the Blast to the County Championship with little turnaround the coming season, which begins on Friday, the 18 counties will review the structure and schedule of the domestic competitions, with the possibility of changes being introduced for the 2026 counties set for significant cash injections as a result of The Hundred sales, there is hope that commercial pressures on the schedule are a high-performance review by Sir Andrew Strauss in 2022 was led by the ECB with the England men's team in mind, this will be led by the counties for the benefit of the 18 review suggested a cut to 10 County Championship and Blast matches from the current 14, proposals rejected by the counties. A reduction to 12 matches in each could be more feasible."The reality is we need to create space in the calendar in order to get the right structure," said Mitchell. "What that looks like, I'm not sure. If we go back to the high-performance review, the reaction from players was that was a little bit too far in terms of the amount that was being cut."Maybe it could be a small cut to either the Blast or Championship but the general feeling is to remove those back-to-back games in the Blast, those pinch-points in the season which have been difficult."If we get the commercials right in terms of when Blast games in particular are scheduled, on a Thursday or Friday night, hopefully it can have an advantage from that side of things. More revenue could be generated."
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Equal Hundred pay 'realistic', says PCA chief
Equalising pay between women and men in The Hundred is a realistic ambition, according to Professional Cricketers' Association chief executive Daryl Mitchell. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has not implemented a recommendation from the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket for equal pay in the competition by this year. Indeed, the pay gap between top men's and women's players has widened from £75,000 to £135,000, a move that "looks bad", according to former England women's captain Heather Knight. But there is optimism the pay gap will close after sales of stakes in the eight Hundred teams were agreed in February. "There is work to do on the commercialisation of women's sport. It's probably the biggest growth area, not just in cricket, but any sport," Mitchell told BBC Sport. "Hopefully, we'll be sat here in 10 years' time with a commercial reality that it's on an equal footing to men's sport, it's watched by similar numbers of people around the world and Sky pay the same amount they do for men's cricket. I don't see why that shouldn't be the ambition. "Equal pay is a realistic ambition, certainly, and it should be the ambition to make it that way." The large disparity between the top men's and women's players came as part of a salary increase designed to attract leading men's players to The Hundred. Although salaries increased across the board, it was the top men's bracket that was given the biggest hike, up from £125,000 to £200,000. The sales of stakes in The Hundred franchises, worth around £520m, to private investors are likely to bring changes to the competition, including greater alignment to other leagues across the globe, more overseas players and bigger salaries. Although the ECB has extended the eight-week window for deals to be completed, they are still expected to go through. And Mitchell believes salaries will have to increase further if the ECB is to fulfil its aim of making The Hundred the second-biggest franchise tournament behind the Indian Premier League. "There are some big players that have come into the room in terms of investing in The Hundred," said former Worcestershire captain Mitchell. "The ambition is for The Hundred to be the second-best tournament, behind the IPL. If that's the case, salaries need to match those ambitions. That's what we'll be in discussions about." Hundred salaries, along with regulations around no-objection certificates – the mechanism that permits English players to feature in overseas leagues – were a source of tension between the PCA and ECB at the end of last year. However, Mitchell says the two organisations have found more common ground on the issues during the early part of 2025. Another focus for the players' body in recent years has been the domestic schedule, particularly the congested nature of the T20 Blast. The Blast often requires players to feature in matches on back-to-back days or even pivot from the Blast to the County Championship with little turnaround time. In the coming season, which begins on Friday, the 18 counties will review the structure and schedule of the domestic competitions, with the possibility of changes being introduced for the 2026 season. With counties set for significant cash injections as a result of The Hundred sales, there is hope that commercial pressures on the schedule are alleviated. Whereas a high-performance review by Sir Andrew Strauss in 2022 was led by the ECB with the England men's team in mind, this will be led by the counties for the benefit of the 18 clubs. Strauss' review suggested a cut to 10 County Championship and Blast matches from the current 14, proposals rejected by the counties. A reduction to 12 matches in each could be more feasible. "The reality is we need to create space in the calendar in order to get the right structure," said Mitchell. "What that looks like, I'm not sure. If we go back to the high-performance review, the reaction from players was that was a little bit too far in terms of the amount that was being cut. "Maybe it could be a small cut to either the Blast or Championship but the general feeling is to remove those back-to-back games in the Blast, those pinch-points in the season which have been difficult. "If we get the commercials right in terms of when Blast games in particular are scheduled, on a Thursday or Friday night, hopefully it can have an advantage from that side of things. More revenue could be generated." Get cricket news sent straight to your phone
The Independent
06-03-2025
- Business
- The Independent
PCA says gender wage disparity in Hundred ‘cannot be allowed to continue'
The Professional Cricketers' Association has stressed the widening gender pay gap in the Hundred 'cannot be allowed to continue'. Pay bandings have been uplifted for the competition's 2025 season but while the overall pot has grown by 25 per cent, the gulf between the earning potential of leading men and women is also on the rise. The top salary band in the male squads is now £200,000, compared to £65,000 in the women's game, taking the differential at the highest level from £75,000 in 2024 to £135,000 this summer. The PCA has made it clear that is a situation that must not go on in an era where more than £500million of private investment has been generated by selling stakes in the eight teams. The Women's Cricket Impact Report, published ahead of International Women's Day on March 8, noted: 'The Association is concerned that the disparity between the men's and women's top salaries has increased, this cannot be allowed to continue. 'Considering the tournament is marketed equally amongst the men's and women's squads with the two teams, one club mantra, which is to be applauded, it is more than disappointing to see the gender pay gap increase. 'With the influx of money into the tournament through the private investment into the teams, stakeholders in the game should be doing everything possible to close this gap, especially considering the increased interest, viewership and ticket sales for women's Hundred matches.' England Women's captain Heather Knight, while applauding positive moves such as levelling international match fees between men and women, an aligned minimum wage in domestic cricket and the new tier one county revamp, reiterated the point. In a foreword for the document, she wrote: 'I'm honoured to have been part of the biggest transformation women's cricket has seen and the players are immensely thankful to the PCA for challenging on our behalf and for being our voice in negotiations. 'Ultimately, this has happened due to the collaboration between the PCA and the ECB and I've been privileged to support with this. However, it's imperative that progress continues as there's still a lot of catching up required, as we've seen recently with the disparity in the Hundred salaries, as we look to secure an equitable game in England and Wales.' Team-mate Alice Capsey, in her own submission, added: 'The Hundred has been a gamechanger for women's cricket, creating a platform that has driven standards on and off the field. With many aspects of The Hundred equitable, we need to work on closing the gender pay gap.' The PCA's wider findings include a jump in average Hundred salaries for women, from £8,000 in 2021 to £29,100 in 2025, and a leap from just 24 fully professional players to 153 heading into the relaunch. The entire domestic funding pool has also sprung up to £4million from £720,000.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Hundred gender wage disparity must end
The Professional Cricketers' Association (PCA) says the increasing disparity between the top salaries of men's and women's players in The Hundred "cannot be allowed to continue". The Women's Impact Report, released before International Women's Day on 8 March, has called for more to be done after the gap in pay between the top men's and women's players widened from £75,000 to £135,000 for 2025. In the men's competition, top-level players will see their pay increase by 60% to £200,000, compared to a 30% rise to £65,000 for leading women's stars as part of an overall 25% rise across all salary bands. "Considering the tournament is marketed equally amongst the men's and women's squads with the two teams, one club mantra, which is to be applauded, it is more than disappointing to see the gender pay gap increase," the report from the players' union said. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) recently oversaw the sales of stakes in the eight Hundred franchises, with the teams achieving a collective value of more than £975m, bringing in about £520m to be split across the game in this country. Given this "influx of money" through private investment, "stakeholders in the game should be doing everything possible to close this gap, especially considering the increased interest, viewership and ticket sales for women's Hundred matches", the report added. The ECB said both men's and women's salary pots went up by about 25% in the latest increase and women's salaries alone increased by £800,000 in 2023. An ECB spokesperson added: "In the men's game, the latest increase was weighted towards the top end in order to be competitive in the global market. "In the women's game, the increase was spread across the salary bands because we need to make more progress across the board." The PCA report did highlight the average salary of a women's player has increased from £8,000 in 2021 to £29,100 for this year's competition, with the lowest salary band up 278% to £10,000 from £3,600 four years ago. Additionally, there has been a 364% growth in the overall Hundred budget pot from 2021 as the popularity of the women's game grows - 320,000 people watched women's games live in The Hundred in 2024, up from 267,000 in the first year of the competition. Hundred gender pay gap 'looks bad' - Knight Maxwell and Healy among big names in Hundred draft The report also shows there has been a 538% increase in professional women's players since 2020 from 24 to 153, aided by a new tiered domestic set-up that sees eight professional teams merge with the men's counties. This year the minimum salary for a women's domestic player will be £28,000, equal to that of their counterparts in the men's game. "Gender equity in cricket can only be achieved when all professional players have equal opportunity to build viable careers and be the best cricketer they can be," said Donna Fraser, PCA director of people, equity, diversity and inclusion. There has also been a significant rise in the domestic remuneration pot from £720,000 in 2021 to £4m. Meanwhile, there has been a 236% rise in average salary of an England player from four years ago. "Every year there has been significant improvements to the contractual and commercial conditions of England players," said vice-captain Nat Sciver-Brunt. "The bar is constantly being raised and player views are being listened to and prioritised." England women's match fees were increased to equal the men's players in 2023. Get cricket news sent straight to your phone
