LONDON, Sept 25, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Women's minimum starting salaries in domestic cricket will be the same as men's from next year, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) announced on Wednesday.

The women's domestic structure is being overhauled from the 2025 season, with eight counties hosting tier-one teams, increasing to nine the following year and 10 in 2027.

The equalisation of salaries will apply at "rookie" level, typically a player's first professional contract, and at the "senior pro" position, for those who have established themselves in first teams.

The BBC said the minimum salary for a rookie, likely to be a first professional deal, would be o20,000 ($26,750) rising to o28,000 at senior pro level.

It has also been agreed that each of the eight first-class counties awarded tier-one status must invest at least o500,000 on player salary costs.

A salary cap of o800,000 has been confirmed, with minimum squad sizes of 15 contracted players.

"Equalising starting salaries across our men's and women's professional domestic game is another positive step forward for women's cricket in England and Wales," said Beth Barrett-Wild, the ECB director of the women's professional game.

Emma Reid, the Professional Cricketers' Association director of player rights and women's cricket, said: "This is a big step towards reaching parity and a journey that the PCA is fully committed to achieving."

Last year, an Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) report said discrimination, including sexism, was "widespread" in English cricket and that women received an "embarrassingly small amount compared to men".

It said match fees for the England women's team were a quarter of those paid to the men's team for white-ball games while the figure was just 15 percent for Tests.

The ECB announced in August 2023 that England's women cricketers would be paid the same match fees as their male counterparts, following similar moves by other nations.

However, the ECB did not agree to all of the report's recommendations, including on equal pay for men and women.

The ICEC report had called for overall equal average pay at international level by 2030 and equal average pay and prize money in domestic cricket by 2029.