The South African board has been going through various issues and crises over the years. However, slowly but steadily things have started to gradually improve and get back on track. They recently hosted the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in February earlier this year. The tournament was a great success for the board as well as the South African Women’s team as they managed to reach their first-ever World Cup final by beating England in a last-over thriller.
On 22nd August 2023, in a welcoming move, Cricket South Africa (CSA) announced equal International match fees for their men and women players. A move to ensure gender equality in sport. They joined boards like New Zealand (NZC), which announced pay parity for men and women players on 4th July 2022, followed by India (BCCI), which announced the game-changing move on 27 October 2022.
A step in the right direction 😍#CricketTwitter via @FirdoseM pic.twitter.com/qmCEiSFmGD
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) August 22, 2023
The new payment structure will be implemented from their upcoming tour to Pakistan which commences on 1st September with a three-match T20I series followed by a three-match ODI series. Earlier in the day, the CSA also revealed a six-team professional domestic system for women players.
In the earlier structure, it was a 16-team set-up which will now be divided into a top six and a bottom ten. The bottom ten teams will be further divided into two groups of five teams each. The top six teams will compete in a 50-over and a 20-over competition. With the kind of changes made in the domestic circuit, especially for women, cricket became the first team sport in South Africa to professionalize the women’s game at the domestic level.
Marizanne Kapp appreciates South African cricket board's decision of equal pay for both men and female cricketers 🇿🇦#CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/9wpOYzC4Do
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) August 23, 2023
The top six teams for the upcoming season will include Titans, Lions, Dolphins, Western Province, Free State, and Garden Route Badgers. The CSA is planning to organise camps for women’s teams alongside SA 20 teams. The board is planning to slide in the women’s exhibition matches with the SA 20 with an intent to launch a Women’s T20 franchise league.
“What we are celebrating today is not about monetary value but about leadership and political will. In the first week of our appointment, we met with the top five sports federations in the country, and we stressed this point. You seem to be the only federation who understood what we said. How I wish others are listening as we speak now.” South Africa’s Sports Minister appreciates the changes made for the growth of women’s cricket in the country.
(Quotes sourced from Espn Cricinfo)