ECB announce £3.5m funding increase for professional women's domestic cricket

By February 1, 2023, all eight women's regional sides will have 10 ECB-funded professional players while the average salary of those players will be £25,000

The England and Wales Cricket Board has announced a £3.5m funding increase for professional women's domestic cricket, which will run until the end of 2024.

From November 1, the number of professional players funded by the ECB will go up to seven players per region, with a further three players per region receiving professional deals from February 1, 2023.

In the 2023 season, there will therefore be 80 ECB-funded professional women's domestic cricketers, up from 40 in 2020 and 48 in 2021.

These numbers do not include the players currently receiving ECB central contracts for their international commitments. From November, a further 10 players will be receiving contracts funded by their region.

^{From February 2023, the ECB will be funding 80 professional women's domestic contracts [Warren Little/Getty Images]}

The salary pot per team will also rise from February 1, increasing to £250,000, meaning the average salary of an ECB-funded women's regional cricketer will be £25,000.  

Elsewhere, each region will see an increase in the number of backroom staff, with a focus on science and medicine. These staff will also receive improved salaries.

ECB managing director of women's cricket and interim CEO, Clare Connor, said: "Everyone within cricket should be immensely proud of the game-changing progress of professional women's domestic cricket since the implementation of the Transform Women's and Girls' Cricket Action Plan began in 2020.

"The significant increase in funding we are announcing today will not only continue to drive the performance standards of our domestic players across England and Wales, giving the women's game more strength in depth, but critically we are creating a more equitable future for women and girls in our sport.

^{Clare Connor believes young girls can now aspire to be professional cricketers [Nathan Stirk/Getty Images]}

"Young girls have a clearer pathway in cricket than ever before, and the belief that they too can aspire to be professional cricketers.

"As of February there will be nearly 100 professional female cricketers in England and Wales. There were fewer than 20 before we launched the new regional structure in 2020

"We're indebted to the hard work of everyone: players, support staff and the administrators who have backed the vision and driven this change - and to the PCA, for the important role they've played in supporting this progression with their continued collaboration

"Combined with the dramatic impact of The Hundred, we are seeing the benefits of professionalisation and collaborative ways of working and cricket is thriving as a result."