Cricket Australia welcomes extra prizemoney for Women’s World Cup

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Cricket Australia have welcomed the decision by the ICC to double prizemoney for the Women’s World Cup, and make every game available to fans through livestreaming.

Australia will now be competing for a prize pool of $2 million, which has been doubled by the ICC. The eight-team tournament in England and Wales begins on 24 June, with the final at Lords on 23 July.

The ICC will also, for the first time in the history of the ICC Women’s World Cup, ensure every ball of every game will be covered live. Ten matches will be broadcast live on television and the remaining 21 matches live-streamed.

The television broadcasts, which will include the two semifinals and the final, will be covered with the help of 30 cameras. Additionally, eight Hawk-Eye cameras will be employed at each broadcast game for Ultra-motion ball-tracking that will enable a detailed analysis of the game.

The final at Lord’s on 23 July will provide a different level of experience with a drone camera and a Spidercam being deployed to capture different angles, something never seen before in women’s cricket or indeed at the Home of Cricket, Lord’s.

The chief executive officer of Cricket Australia, James Sutherland, said he was delighted with the ICC’s decisions.

“This demonstrates a welcome, long-term commitment to the global growth of the women’s game, and it recognises the opportunity presented by women’s sport.

“We have seen huge interest in our women cricketers here in Australia through the two seasons of WBBL, and part of the success of this league is that every game is available to fans through livestreaming. It is fundamentally important that Australian fans can see their women compete in the World Cup, the pinnacle of the world game.

“It is really important that our young girls can see their heroes play, and be inspired to play cricket themselves through their school or local club.

“We want them to aspire to play for Australia. Cricket is a wonderful game that takes our young people around the world.

“Cricket Australia is also pleased that the ICC is working towards prizemoney parity with the men’s game within 15 years. In our current pay offer to Australian players, Cricket Australia has committed to ensuring that prizemoney for the women’s ICC World T20 in 2020 will be the same as for the men’s WT20. We will make up the difference between the two prize pools.

“We have also promised prizemoney parity for our domestic competitions, both state leagues and Big Bash, from this summer.’’

Mr Sutherland said last week’s deliberations by the ICC, which included the inaugural women’s forum, showed that the ICC was determined to develop a blueprint for women’s cricket.

“We had excellent, positive discussions amongst all the CEOs, showing that the time really has arrived for women to believe that cricket is a game for them right around the world.”

Former Australian cricketer Lisa Sthalekar said of the announcements: “I am delighted to be on the commentary team for the 2017 Women’s World Cup. It’s such an exciting time for women’s cricket and so to be calling the action on their biggest stage will be a real thrill.

“With the growing professionalism in the women’s game, there’s no better stage to showcase how far it has come in such a short period. I can’t wait to be a part of it.”

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