Women's The Hundred will not face salary cuts, says PCA chairman

The women’s players are unlikely to face salary cuts in The Hundred even as the men are set to lose 20% of their salary bands, said Daryll Mitchell, the chairman of Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA). While the men were due to earn between 30,000 pounds to 1,25,000 pounds, the salary bands for women ranged from 3,600 pounds to 15,000 pounds.



“They need to be maintained, that's my opinion,” Mitchell was quoted saying by ESPNCricinfo on Monday (June 22).



“They're significantly less than the men's salaries at the moment… I don't think the cut across the men's and the women's would necessarily be the same.”



Though the salary bands varied, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) had announced that there will be equal prize money on offer for both the men’s and women’s competitions. Moreover, women’s cricketers have been affected more due to the pandemic than their male colleagues. The ECB was to introduce 40 new contracts for the year but the plans have been put on hold. Instead it announced 24 retainer contracts instead.



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Mitchell has said that full contracts for the new regional centres are set to be awarded before the end of the year and there is light at the end of the tunnel for women players.



“Credit to the ECB - they've put 24 retainers to try and help those people out,” he said.



“There's a little bit lacking for a lot of players financially, not playing in the Hundred as well, so it's been tough for some of those players on the fringes who would have expected to become a full-time pro this year.”



“But I think there's light at the end of the tunnel with those contracts being awarded at some point in the near future. As chairman, I'm looking forward to being able to welcome 40 women into the PCA as professional members.”