While Australia and England have already started to promote women’s cricket widely and getting successful on it, Indian women cricketers have recently seen the huge hike in their fees. The cricket world is looking these initiatives as great for the women’s cricket.
Recently, Indian women cricketers have observed the huge hike in their central contract fees. Previously, there were only two types of grades in the central contracts for the Indian women cricket team. Grade A players earned INR 15 lakh while the Grade B players earned INR 10 lakh.
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In the new central contract, Grade A players are earning INR 50 lakh and Grade B players are earning 30 lakh. In the addition, Grade C has been added where the women cricketers can earn INR 10 lakh.
Former England women’s cricketer and present International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Women Cricket Officer, Holly Colvin recently showed her pleasure on BCCI’s recent steps for the women cricket.
She recently told Reuters, “We think it’s a great step that more women’s players are being rewarded with professional contracts and are able to focus solely on the game that they love. Looking at the Indian women’s contracts in isolation, they have more than tripled for top women’s players in the space of three years, which is incredible.”
Colvin also mentioned that the success of 2017 Women’s Cricket World Cup has put a huge positive impact in the women’s cricket across the globe. She said on that, “The Women’s World Cup has put cricket firmly on the map as a leading sport for women and girls across the globe.”
Colvin also believes that T20s are a great asset for the women’s game to attract the cricket world. She said, “T20 Leagues are certainly an asset to showcase the game to a local fan base. By attracting the best players in the world and fostering new talent they can only be good for global growth. With all three of the next ICC World T20s being stand-alone for women, there is a brilliant opportunity for the ICC to give women’s cricket the dedicated exposure it needs to build fans of the game in its own right.”
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Boria Majumder, the cricket historian and the co-author of Sachin Tendulkar’s autobiography ‘Playing It My Way’, mentioned that there is still a lot of work to do yet.
Majumder told Reuters, “In an age of gender equality, there is still a lot to be done in this regard. The other way to look at it is perhaps more reasonable. There has been a significant jump in women’s contracts, close to 300 percent, and is a significant step forward.”
Talking about the marketing and sponsorship for the women cricketers, Majumder said, “The men’s game is still more marketable and more attractive for sponsors … It is a process but the good thing is the drive towards equality has finally started.
“Harman has a CEAT bat contract, Mithali is on billboards and fashion magazine covers, Jhulan has a biopic to her name being made … Had the profile not risen, none of these would have happened. Also, if you see their social media accounts. You will see how they have seriously large fan followings.”
