This progressive change will also extend to Under-19 tournaments, ensuring fairness and inclusivity across all levels of the game.
In a significant stride towards achieving gender equality in the sport, the International Cricket Council (ICC) declared on Thursday that both men’s and women’s teams will be awarded an equal amount of prize money for all events organized by the governing body. This momentous decision was reached during the ICC Annual Conference held in Durban, South Africa.
Henceforth, teams will receive identical monetary rewards for their placements in comparable events, such as the men’s and women’s T20 World Cups. Furthermore, equal prizes will be bestowed upon victorious teams, regardless of their gender. This progressive change will also extend to Under-19 tournaments, ensuring fairness and inclusivity across all levels of the game.
“This is a significant moment in the history of our sport and I am delighted that men’s and women’s cricketers competing at ICC global events will now be rewarded equally,” chairman Greg Barclay said in the official statement.
The ICC also announced that it has failed to meet its target of achieving prize money parity by 2030. Despite increasing the prize money for the Women’s 2023 T20 World Cup by five times, with the winner receiving $1 million (INR 8.2 crore) and the runners-up receiving $500,000 (INR 4.1 crore), it still falls short of the amounts awarded in the men’s T20 World Cup, which are $1.6 million (INR 13.1 crore) for the winner and $800,000 (INR 6.5 crore) for the runners-up.
The apex body also made an important announcement regarding the penalties imposed on players for slow over-rates in Test matches. In a bid to promote fairness and discourage delays, the ICC has revised the penalty structure. Previously, players were required to pay a hefty 100 percent of their match fees for slow over-rates. However, this has now been reduced to a more reasonable five percent per over that falls short, with a maximum penalty of 50 percent. It is important to note that these changes will be applicable throughout the current World Test Championship cycle.
“The Men’s Cricket Committee felt strongly that over-rate penalties in the form of WTC points deductions should remain but recommended that players should not have 100% of their match fee at risk. We believe this provides a balance between maintaining over-rates and ensuring we are not deterring players from playing Test cricket,” the Men’s Cricket Committee chief Sourav Ganguly said.
Furthermore, prior to this alteration, teams were not subjected to any over-rate penalty, irrespective of the delays, if they were dismissed before completing 60 overs. However, this rule has now been revised to apply to matches spanning 80 overs.
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