The Cricket West Indies and the West Indies Players’ Association have signed a four-year agreement to ensure gender pay equity in West Indian cricket. The agreement, which runs from October 1, 2023, to September 30, 2027, includes all player remuneration agreements and modified terms and conditions within the West Indies system.
By signing the Memorandum of Understanding, the West Indies are taking steps towards fair compensation for all players, regardless of gender. Other countries such as New Zealand, India, Australia, South Africa, and England have also taken steps towards achieving gender pay equality in cricket.
A media release stated, “the Mou outlines plans to achieve parity in international and regional match fees, international captain’s allowances, international team prize money, and regional individual prize money for all West Indies cricketers by 1 October 2027.”
“This is a historic day for West Indies cricket. As we overhaul the compensation structures and align performance grading, we are taking a significant step towards creating a more inclusive and progressive cricket framework.
“This step reflects our unwavering commitment to gender equality and acknowledges the immense contributions of female players to West Indies cricket.”
“In the preceding year, we undertook substantial enhancements to our travel policy, mandating that the West Indies Senior Women’s team travel business class on all extended international flights and are accommodated in single rooms during international assignments.
“This aligns seamlessly with the established policy for West Indies Senior Men’s tours. Today, with the signing of this MOU, we take another significant stride in narrowing the gender gap within our cricketing community,” Dr Kishore Shallow President Of Cricket West Indies said.
Johnny Grave, CEO of CWI, hopes that by introducing a better pay structure and gender pay fairness, the board will see more success on the field for the West Indies.
“We are proud to embark on this journey towards gender pay equity. The significant increases in our female players demonstrate our dedication to rewarding excellence and promoting fairness in our cricketing community.
“The increases in prize money, greater rewards for our best-performing players, and higher match fees for players in the starting XIs are all strategic moves to place a greater emphasis on winning,” CWI CEO Johnny Grave stated.
The West Indies men’s team has won two ODI World Cups (1975 and 1979) and two T20 World Cups (2012 and 2016). The women’s team won the T20 World Cup in 2016 and the team would be keen on bringing out their best in International cricket
Furthermore, the top performers in the system will receive additional team and individual incentive awards, and regional tournaments will have unprecedented prize money. The top contract band values for men at the international and regional levels have also been increased, thereby promoting a culture of player growth, improvement, and high performance.
