The Independent Voice of West Indies Cricket

Women's Cricket to get more prize money and increased broadcast coverage

Thu, May 4, '17

 

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First time ever that fans around the world can watch every ball of every game from a Women’s World Cup with Spidercam to be used for the first time at Lord’s and in international women’s cricket coverage

The International Cricket Council today substantially increased the prize money for the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 to $2 million and unveiled unprecedented broadcast plans for the tournament as part of its long term ambition to bring parity to the women’s game.

The ICC Board unanimously backed the move as it committed to accelerate the global development of women’s cricket. It signaled its intent to move towards equality across the game within 15 years and a blueprint for growth and sustainability will be launched later this year.

ICC Chief Executive David Richardson: “The ICC Women’s World Cup is the pinnacle of the women’s game and as such the players should be rewarded appropriately. Two million dollars is the first step towards greater parity and recognition. The prize fund for the 2013 edition was just $200,000, and this announcement shows a greater level of commitment than ever before.

The change will not happen overnight but the women’s game is crucial to the global growth of cricket. There is undoubtedly an audience for it – there were almost 18 million views of highlights of the Women’s World Cup Qualifier earlier this year – and we need to grow that further. There is greater depth in the women’s game and that is leading to increased competitiveness which is what fans want to see.