Photo Credit: Cricket West Indies
Both organisations confirm commitment to advancing gender pay equity
In a groundbreaking development, Cricket West Indies (CWI) and the West Indies Players’ Association todaysigned a new four (4) year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), solidifying their commitment to promoting gender pay equitywithin West Indies cricket. The MOU outlines plans to achieve parity in international and regional match fees, international captain’s allowances, international team prize money and regional individual prize money for all West Indies cricketers by 1 October 2027.
This strategic initiative is a testament to CWI’s dedication to creating a more equitable playing field and fostering an environment where talent is valued irrespective of gender. The MOU also aligns the performance grading criteria for international women’s and regional men’s contracts with the established standards for international men, ensuring a uniform evaluation process across domestic and international cricket from 1 October 2024.
Commenting on the announcement, Dr. Kishore Shallow, President of Cricket West Indies, stated,
“This is a historic day for West Indies cricket. As we overhaul the compensation structures and align performance grading, we are taking a significant step towards creating a more inclusive and progressive cricket framework. This step reflects our unwavering commitment to gender equality and acknowledges the immense contributions of female players to West Indies cricket.”
“In the preceding year, we undertook substantial enhancements to our travel policy, mandating that the West Indies Senior Women’s team travel business-class on all extended international flights and are accommodated in single rooms during internationalassignments. This aligns seamlessly with the established policy for West Indies Senior Men’s tours. Today, with the signing of this MOU, we take another significant stride in narrowing the gender gap within our cricketing community.”
The MOU also introduces opportunities for compensation enhancement for both International and Regional Men, signifying a commitment by CWI to acknowledge and reward excellence. In addition to unprecedented levels of prize money on offer for regional tournaments, there are new team and individual incentive bonuses available for the top performers in the system. The top contract band values for men at international and regional level have also been increased, underscoring the commitment to fostering a culture of player growth, improvement and high performance.
Johnny Grave, Chief Executive Officer of Cricket West Indies, added,
“We are proud to embark on this journey towards gender pay equity. The significant increases for our female players demonstrate our dedication to rewarding excellence and promoting fairness in our cricketing community. The increases in prize money, greater rewards for our best performing players and higher match fees for players in the starting XIs, are all strategic moves to place a greater emphasis on winning.”
Wavell Hinds, President and CEO of the West Indies Players Association (WIPA), affirmed,
“Achieving gender parity and equity has always been a strategic objective of our players’ union, and we’ve certainly done so with our female members. Without a doubt, this is a truly historic and exciting time for our membership as the MOU addresses most levels of our pay scale. As we operate within a very fluid cricketing landscape, we are duty bound to conscientiously reward our regional and international players within the constraints of CWI’s budget and agree on policies that will produce and promote world class performances.”
Implementing these changes will mark a milestone in West Indies cricket, reinforcing the region’s commitment to building a cricketing landscape that is equitable, diverse, and inclusive.
The new Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) is for the period 1 October 2023 to 30 September 2027 and now captures all agreements in respect of player remuneration, and updated terms and conditions across the West Indies system.
Some important provisions agreed upon in the new MOU, as reflected in the Terms and Conditions of Engagement, are as follows:
- Significantly increased team prize money throughout the system and new individual player rewards;
- Full match fees for players in the starting XI and 80% for reserves (effective 1 October 2024);
- All retainers on hold once a NOC is issued for an overseas domestic franchise tournament (effective 1 October 2024);
- The potential for CWI and Franchises to award multi-year retainer contracts (up to 3-years);
- Increased international and regional match fees and ICC Tournament fees for all women’s cricketers, to achieve parity by 1 October 2027;
- Increases for international and regional men’s match fees (effective 1 October 2023);
- Align international women’s contracts and regional men’s contracts with the performance grading that has been established for the international men; and
- Provision of a hospitality box and ground transportation for players’ families at all international home series matches.
CWI & WIPA have also committed to work effortlessly on reviewing and updating the following player related policies:
- CWI Fitness & Conditioning Plan and Policy
- CWI Science & Medicine Policy
- CWI Selection Policy
- CWI NOC Policy
