Antigua: West Indies have joined the recent push for gender equality in cricket by committing to achieving pay equity for their male and female players.
Just last year the ICC announced prize money parity at ICC tournaments for men’s and women’s teams and the West Indies have followed their lead by joining a host of fellow cricket boards in reaching gender pay equity.
New Zealand, India, Australia, South Africa and England have put steps in place in recent times for pay equity among the genders and the West Indies are seeking to do the same by committing to promoting gender pay equity for all their cricketers over the coming years through a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed on Thursday.
The MOU was signed by Cricket West Indies and the West Indies Players’ Association and set a clear path for West Indies cricket 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 October 1, 2027, an ICC report said.
President of Cricket West Indies, Dr. Kishore Shallow, said the announcement was a significant moment in the region and major step for all parties in reaching pay equity in the future.
“This is a historic day for West Indies cricket,” he said.
“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,” Shallow said.
“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,” he said.
“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,” Shallow said.
The West Indies believe the change will help them “reinforce the region’s commitment to building a cricketing landscape that is equitable, diverse, and inclusive” and Cricket West Indies CEO Johnny Grave expects to see more successful performances on the field as a result.
“We are proud to embark on this journey towards gender pay equity,” Grave said.
“The significant increases for our female players demonstrate our dedication to rewarding excellence and promoting fairness in our cricketing community,” he said.
“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,” Grave added.
The West Indies are one of just three sides to have won multiple ICC Men’s Cricket World Cups having tasted success in 1975 and 1979, while the Caribbean team have also claimed two ICC Men’s T20 World Cup trophies in 2012 and 2016 and a single ICC Women’s T20 World Cup title in 2016.
