A new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was recently signed between Cricket Australia (CA) and the Australian Cricket Association (ACA). Complying with the new MoU, Cricket Australia has increased the number of national contracts for its women cricketers from 15 to 18. The recent release of contracted players for 2023-24 sees 4 inductees to the mix of 17.
Nicola Carey and Rachael Haynes are the two absentees from the 15, pre-existing, CA contracted players (2022-23) list. While Rachael Haynes’ retirement from the game makes her absence obvious, it is a curious case of Nicola Carey as it’s understood that she’s declined a national contract. Notably, she also opted out of the Women’s Ashes series that’s scheduled for June-July 2023.
While hard-hitter, Grace Harris earned a contract upgrade in 2022 after becoming a regular feature in the Australian side, new inductees to the 2023-24 list see the trio of all-rounders, Kim Garth, and Heather Graham, and teenage superstar, Phoebe Litchfield who have earned their first CA contracts.
Full List of 2023-24 National Contracts by Cricket Australia 👇#CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/Q85tL7f7N1
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) April 5, 2023
Cricket Australia women’s contract list, 2023-24:
Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Heather Graham, Grace Harris, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Meg Lanning, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham
The 18th slot could be filled by any player during the year who after being selected for the national side gets to 12 points. CA rewards women players with 5 points for a Test match and a couple each for an ODI and T20I. The recently struck MoU between CA and ACA also will have women cricketers paid from a $133 million pool over the next 5 years which is a massive jump from the current $80m.
CA head of performance and national selector, Shawn Flegler said, “Grace Harris earned an upgrade last season and subsequently played every match throughout the T20 World Cup. Kim Garth and Heather Graham have performed strongly at the domestic level over the past 12 months.
“Phoebe Litchfield is a young talent who we believe has a big future. Despite missing a large amount of cricket, Tayla Vlaeminck retains her contract which enables us to continue to support her on her return to play following a significant foot injury.
“We offered Nic a contract because we believe she is a player of international quality, but we respect her decision to focus on a pre-season program with Tasmania and will continue to support her moving forward.”
(Quotes sourced from cricket.com.au)
