Another step forward on the path to equity

NZ Cricket announces equal match fees

Congratulations to all those who successfully lobbied for the new master agreement for cricket players here in Aotearoa. The biggest win being men and women receiving the same match fees for domestic and international games. This is definitely a strong step forward and strengthens women’s position both in cricket and in other codes as a rising tide of pay equity helps lift all boats. I could only dream of the Black Ferns, Super Rugby Aupiki and FPC players receiving the same match fees and bonuses as the men.

Is it a women’s sports event in Wellington if I’m not gatecrashing a Cricket Wellington hang? New match day fees suggest it’s going to continue to be my cricket mate’s shout.

But as with all of these announcements, I’m always a bit suss on “EQUITY ACHIEVED” press releases. There is no doubt that this is the largest investment they have put into wāhine pockets but that’s not to say that the job is done.

My Mum quit teaching ultimately because of the growing amount of unpaid work she was doing to run her classroom. She always said it was about 3 hours in for every 1 hour you taught. It’s the same story with these new contracts, we are paying you properly now for the match but not for all the hours of training and commitment it takes to get you ready to put on your best performance.

The number of domestic contracts was markedly increased from 54 to 72, CHOICE! But this fact was followed by the admission that these are all “positioned as a secondary work commitment with restricted obligations, to enable players to retain full-time employment and/or study commitments.”. So no one will be handing in their notice to their boss just yet.

There is more good stuff in this agreement regarding training environments, a commitment to equity in travel and accomodation arrangements and a retaining of childcare and pregnancy provisions. Absolutely love all of that.

My biggest qualm though? The five year length of this agreement.

Think about where women’s cricket was five years ago compared to where it is now. Not just here but internationally. When you think of just where it could be in another five years time, you start to realise that perhaps we are selling our women short. The growth has been massive and is not showing signs of slowing. There has been a widening of a gap between us and our opposition. Locking in this state of play in for the next five years may actually prevent us from fully capturing the potential of the sport.

We fell short in our performance at the Cricket World Cup and with the next one arriving within this five year window, does this agreement do enough to close the gap on our rivals and to set us up for success?

Well, it’s one step forward, one we hope other sports will follow but we haven’t hit gold standard yet.

With you,

Alice