Players' union delighted with equal pay for SA's female cricketers

Cricket SA's landmark decision to provide equal pay for both the men's and women's internationally contracted cricketers puts the organisation way ahead of any other sport in the country.

Though further details are still being thrashed out, with one insider saying that CSA was “99.9% complete” on the plan to provide equal pay, the players' union, the SA Cricketers' Association, said it was delighted with the outcome.

“This is something we have been in discussion about with CSA for 12 months,” said Saca CEO Andrew Breetzke. “It has been put into the financial model and we are very chuffed with it.

“CSA deserve credit because they have always been absolutely open to it. Along with the pay parity aspect there has also been an increase in the Proteas women's remuneration.”

The equal pay agreement was glossed over by CSA at Tuesday’s launch of the CSA Professional Women’s Domestic League, where the organisation’s head of pathways, Eddie Khoza, merely mentioned there would be “parity” in terms of match fees for women players without providing details. 

In his presentation to an audience that included sports minister Zizi Kodwa, Khoza highlighted a section titled “Gains for 2023/24 season and beyond”, that included a section marked, “Parity on match fees for international cricket (men and women)”. 

The decision on equal pay was derived from the New Zealand model where research involving that country's cricket union and its players' association had determined that if time spent on the field (preparing and playing) was the same, then payment had to be as well.

One concern is the costs involved, with the move increasing the number of professional cricketers in the country back to 315 players, the same as had been the case before the restructuring of the local game two years ago. That restructuring, which saw the end of the franchise era, and the number of professional cricketers in the country drop to 255, occurred ostensibly to save CSA money. 

The new league is the first fully professional female sports competition in South Africa. The tournament will see six first division provincial teams able to contract 11 players each, while those with sufficient resources can add to that tally through provincial contracting.

Unlike their international counterparts, those 66 contracted players will not be paid the same as their domestic male counterparts. The women's contracts for the new league are more akin to what male players in division two are earning.

Khoza said at the launch that besides deepening the talent pool available for the national selectors, the new tournament also had its eye on the SA20. “We are looking for this league to establish itself first, maybe over two years and then we will be discussing the possibility of a women’s SA20,” said Khoza.