"Historic day" - Cricket West Indies commits to achieve gender pay parity by 2027

In a major improvement drive, Cricket West Indies (CWI) alongside the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) committed to achieving gender pay parity by October 1, 2027. The two bodies also took decisions on enhancing the prize money of domestic competitions and hospitality services for players and their families.

For gender pay parity, they signed a four-year Memorandum of Understanding. By the deadline date, international and regional match fees, international captain’s allowances, international team prize money, and regional individual prize money will be equal for all West Indian cricketers irrespective of their gender.

"This is a historic day for West Indies cricket," CWI President Dr. Kishore Shallow said in a statement. "As we overhaul the compensation structures and align performance grading, we are taking a significant step towards creating a more inclusive and progressive cricket framework. This step reflects our unwavering commitment to gender equality and acknowledges the immense contributions of female players to West Indies cricket."

Under the MoU, they streamlined the performance grading criteria for all domestic men and women cricketers, increased the band values of top contracts for men, and added new performance-based bonuses. However, now, the reserve players will only be paid 80 percent of the match fees compared to the starting 11 members.

They also signed to provide hospitality box and ground transportation for all players’ families at all international home series matches.

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"Always been a strategic objective" - West Indies Player Association on gender parity MoU

Wavell Hinds, the President and CEO of the WIPA, said the MoU will usher in a "truly historic and exciting time" for the board for a country's cricket.

“Achieving gender parity and equity has always been a strategic objective of our players' union, and we've certainly done so with our female members. Without a doubt, this is a truly historic and exciting time for our membership as the MOU addresses most levels of our pay scale. As we operate within a very fluid cricketing landscape, we are duty bound to conscientiously reward our regional and international players within the constraints of CWI's budget and agree on policies that will produce and promote world class performances.”

The two bodies also committed to work on reviewing and updating other policies of the board including fitness and selection.