Australian Cricket Launches Women and Girls Action Plan to Drive Growth and Equality in the Sport

Australian Cricket Launches Women and Girls Action Plan to Revolutionize Women’s Sports

Australian Cricket has taken a groundbreaking step towards revolutionizing women’s sports with the launch of its Women and Girls Action Plan. The plan aims to drive significant increases in participation, audiences, commercial revenue, and representation over the next ten years, keeping cricket at the forefront of the women’s sports revolution.

Key features of the plan include increased investment in female-friendly infrastructure, grassroots programs, player payments, competitions, and pathways. The bold targets set by the plan aim to enhance all aspects of cricket for women and girls, with a major focus on filling stadiums, growing viewing audiences for women’s internationals and the Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL), and creating more playing opportunities and higher player payments.

The introduction of a new domestic women’s T20 competition will provide additional high-performance opportunities for domestic players, raising the average female domestic player salary to $163,322 for the 2024-25 season. The WBBL will also feature a 40-game regular season, ensuring enhanced scheduling and player availability for better competition locally and globally.

The Women and Girls Action Plan builds on existing initiatives to propel the growth of cricket at all levels, with clear goals to be reached by 2034, including increasing total revenue from women’s cricket to $121 million, growing participation by 5-12-year-old girls, and achieving at least 40% female representation in key positions across Australian Cricket.

Australian players Ellyse Perry and CA Chief Executive Officer Nick Hockley have expressed their excitement and commitment to the plan, highlighting the importance of inclusivity, sustainability, and commercial growth in advancing the women’s game. ACA Chief Executive Officer Todd Greenberg and Federal Minister for Sport Anika Wells have also praised the initiative, emphasizing the need for equitable opportunities and empowerment for women in Australian sport.

With the Women and Girls Action Plan in place, Australian Cricket is set to continue leading the way in women’s sports, inspiring more women and girls to love and play cricket and ensuring the continued growth and success of the women’s game.