Beth Mooney urges for gender pay parity in The Hundred

Australia opener Beth Mooney has returned to The Hundred after a year-long gap, joining Manchester Originals with a hefty £50,000 deal.

This makes her one of the most expensive players in the Women's Hundred. Although this sum is significantly higher than her 2023 earnings of £31,250, Mooney has called for equal pay for men and women in global cricket competitions.

Currently, the top-tier men's salary in The Hundred is £125,000, which Mooney believes women cricketers should also receive. Notably, she earns £200,000 in the Women's Premier League (WPL), far surpassing her earnings in England’s premier competition. Despite the pay disparity, Mooney appreciates the exposure, fan base, and quality of the tournament.

“I'm not sure it's quite equal billing, because the men still get paid more. But yeah, in terms of the exposure, and the fan base, and the quality of the tournament, it's certainly up there with one of the best going around. It's doing a great job with getting more opportunities for women in this country to play cricket but, as with any women's sport, we're not quite there with equal billing,” Mooney said.

In 2023, a report by the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) recommended that the ECB offer the same salary to men and women in The Hundred by 2025. However, the board requested a delay, arguing that the commercial and media value of women’s cricket is currently lower than that of men’s.

“I don't know if it's quite an achievable goal. The men obviously bring in a lot of revenue across the world, in terms of the viewership and the broadcast and things like that, so the remuneration piece is always a bit of a tough one. But we've got to keep pushing the boundaries a bit,” she further added.