The ECB will invest an additional £800,000 in women’s Hundred salaries in 2024, with men’s salaries frozen for the third straight season. The salary cap for each of the eight women’s squads will increase by 40%, with the top three salary bands increasing by 60%. The highest earners in each squad will see their salaries rise significantly.
Salaries in the women’s Hundred still pale in comparison to those offered in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) in India, but the aim is to attract the world’s best players in 2024.
The Women’s Future Tours Programme for all full-member teams apart from Ireland and Sri Lanka during the Hundred’s window this year is clear. The investment in player wages will also make a dent in the Hundred’s gender pay gap, with women’s players now paid on average 35% of their male counterparts. Salaries in the men’s Hundred will stay at the same level as 2023.
The ECB has consulted with counties over the future of the Hundred since last season, and there is growing consensus that the tournament will be expanded to nine or ten teams in 2025. Jos Buttler, England men’s white-ball captain, implored the ECB to turn the Hundred into “the second-best domestic tournament in the world” behind the IPL last year. The investment in women’s salaries, over the men’s, shows the tournament’s dual-gender format has been integral to its success, and steps are being taken to close the pay gap.
