ICC announces equal prize money for men's and women's teams for all events
In a major push towards gender parity in the sport, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced on Thursday that men's and women's teams will get the same amount of prize money for all events organized by the apex body. The decision was made during the ICC Annual Conference in Durban, South Africa.
Teams will now receive equal money for finishing in similar positions at "comparable events" (like the men's and women's T20 World Cups) and equal prizes for winning matches. The change will also apply to Under-19 tournaments.
"This is a significant moment in the history of our sport and I am delighted that men’s and women’s cricketers competing at ICC global events will now be rewarded equally," chairman Greg Barclay said in the official statement.
ICC also said it has "surpassed" its timeline for achieving prize money parity by 2030.
Although ICC had increased the prize money for the Women's 2023 T20 World Cup by five times to $1 million (₹8.2 crore) for the winner and $500,000 (₹4.1 crore) for the runners-up, it fell short of the $1.6 million ( ₹13.1 crore) and $800,000 ( ₹6.5 crore) given in the men's T20 World Cup.
ICC does away with 100% match fee penalty for slow over-rates in Tests
ICC also announced that players will no longer be levied 100 percent of their match fees for slow over-rates in Tests. Now, players will have to pay five percent of their match fee (instead of 20 percent) as a fine for every over that falls short, with a maximum penalty capped at 50 percent. These will apply to the current World Test Championship cycle.
“The Men’s Cricket Committee felt strongly that over-rate penalties in the form of WTC points deductions should remain but recommended that players should not have 100% of their match fee at risk. We believe this provides a balance between maintaining over-rates and ensuring we are not deterring players from playing Test cricket," the Men’s Cricket Committee chief Sourav Ganguly said.
Moreover, before this change, no over-rate penalty was imposed, regardless of the delays, if a team got bowled before reaching the 60-over mark. This has now been changed to 80 overs.