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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.
