Cricket Australia has today announced that South Australia will compete in a new domestic women’s T20 competition from season 2024/25, creating additional high-performance opportunities for domestic players.
This announcement comes as Australian Cricket launched its Women and Girls Action Plan to keep cricket at the forefront of the women’s sports revolution by driving significant increases in participation, audiences, commercial revenue and representation over the next ten years.
Click here to view the Women and Girls Action Plan.
Increased investment in female-friendly infrastructure, grassroots programs, player payments and competitions and pathways are key features of the plan which has set bold targets to enhance all aspects of cricket for women and girls.
From WBBL|10, the WBBL will feature a 40-game regular season (in line with the BBL) and there will be a major focus on filling stadiums and growing viewing audiences for women’s internationals and the WBBL and creating more playing opportunities and higher player payments.
The new T20 competition will raise the average female domestic player salary for 2024-25 – inclusive of WBBL contract, State/Territory contract and domestic match payments – to $163,322, an increase of $12,303 (8%) on 2023-24, while the current WBBL salary cap will be maintained meaning no reduction in player payments.
The new structure for Weber WBBL|10 and beyond will also ensure enhanced scheduling and player availability, delivering a better competition for fans locally and globally. As in recent seasons, every match will be televised, including 20 simulcast on Foxtel/Kayo Sports and Seven with an additional 20 matches shown exclusively on Foxtel/Kayo Sports, with both Seven and Foxtel/Kayo Sports broadcasting the three finals.
The Women and Girls Action Plan builds on the many initiatives already undertaken to propel the growth of cricket at all levels and draws on key data and the experience and expertise of some of Australian cricket’s most prominent players and leaders.
Participation, Representation, High Performance, Fandom and Commercial are the five areas identified where the growth of the women’s game can be enhanced and accelerated.
The plan includes clear goals to be reached by 2034 including:
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600,000 average annual attendance for all women’s cricket in Australia
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Growing total revenue from women’s cricket to $121 million (an increase of $100 million)
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Increasing participation by 5–12-year-old girls from 25,000 to 100,000
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$500 million invested in infrastructure for women and girls’ cricket
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At least 40% female representation in key positions across Australian Cricket (including executives, boards and community cricket roles)
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Winning gold medals at the 2028 and 2032 Olympics.