The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday announced a whopping 75 percent increase in the prize money for the upcoming ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup with the prize pool going up to US $3.5 million, an increase of $1.5 million from that of the 2017 World Cup.
The announcement came as a major boost for the eight teams that would be competing to be crowned as the World Champions and take home the prize money of $1.32 million while the runners-up will get $600,000 and the two semi-finalists will receive $300,000 each. Further, $70,000 will be given to the remaining 4 teams who won’t be able to make it to the top 4 while $25,000 will be given on every win in the group stage.
The prize money for ICC women’s events has certainly increased significantly across the past decade, however, the gap is still large.
But we are moving in the right direction & equal pay wouldn’t be a question anymore. #CWC22 pic.twitter.com/bQzkYeJg41
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) February 16, 2022
However, Cricket Australia on Wednesday shared an analysis of this increased prize money in an article on their official website. As per which, the total prize money is $ 6.5 million less than the $10 million prize pool of the 2019 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup. The men’s edition that was won by England at Lord’s had the winning prize money of US $4 million while the runners-up, New Zealand got $2 million, and semi-finalists India and Australia received $800,000 each.
Comparing the Prize Money – 2019 Men’s ODI World Cup with 2022 Women’s ODI Cricket World Cup
| Prize Money | 2019 Men’s ODI World Cup (in USD) | 2022 Women’s ODI World Cup (in USD) |
| Total | $10 million | $3.5 million |
| Champions | $4 million | $1.32 million |
| Runners-Up | $2 million | $600,000 |
| Semi-Finalists | $800,000 | $300,000 |
Though there has been a significant increase in the prize pool as compared to previous years which is a great sign for women’s cricket, the fact that the disparity between women’s and men’s cricket still exists isn’t acceptable. There should be an equal share of money regardless of gender.
Cricket Australia further talked about how they have the same base pay rate for both women and men under their current Memorandum of Understanding agreed with the Australian Cricketers’ Association in 2017.
That MoU saw payments for elite female cricketers increase from $7.5m over the previous five-year period to $55 million over the term of the current collective bargaining agreement, which is in place until 2023.
Equal prize money has been on offer for the men’s and women’s Big Bash tournaments since the 2017-18 season, as stated in the article.
Author of the poetry book ‘The Scent of Rhythm’, I am a passionate writer and a Sports enthusiast who writes on Cricket and plays Badminton.