Minimum starting salaries will be equal for men and women in domestic cricket from 2025.
The women’s domestic structure is being revamped from next season, with eight first-class counties hosting Tier 1 teams, rising to nine in 2026 and 10 in 2027.
At those counties, the minimum salary for a ‘rookie’, typically a man or woman’s first professional deal, will be £20,000. That will rise to £28,000 at ‘senior pro’ level, in reality when a player has made a certain number of first-team appearances.
A three-tiered county structure will replace the current regional model as part of a plan from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) to increase investment in women’s domestic cricket to £19m per annum by 2027.
The Tier 1 counties are Durham, Essex, Hampshire, Lancashire, Nottinghamshire, Somerset, Surrey and Warwickshire. Yorkshire will join in 2026 and Glamorgan in 2027.
Those counties will align with the men in the T20 Blast and One-Day Cup from next season.
Overall, the Tier 1 counties will be required to have a minimum of 15 contracted players. Those counties will be required to invest a minimum of £500,000 on player salary costs from 2025, but not exceed £800,000.
