Winners of women's cricket tournaments are taking away increasingly larger prize money pay cheques. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
White Ferns captain Sophie Devine welcomes a substantial potential pay day at the upcoming Cricket World Cup but says there is still more work to be done in the women's game.
The winners of the women's tournament in India and Sri Lanka will get NZ$7.59 million which is significantly higher than the $2.23 million awarded to Australia when they won the 2022 World Cup in New Zealand and exceeds the $6.78m the Australian men's team pocketed after lifting the 2023 World Cup in India.
Each of the eight participating teams in the tournament, which begins with a match between the co-hosts on 30 September, is guaranteed $424,000.
Devine was part of the White Ferns squad that won last year's T20 World Cup and picked up record prize money.
While she recognises the "life-changing" impact money from these tournaments can have for players she sees it as a stepping stone to more.
There were other areas that needed to improve in women's cricket, according to Devine.
"We've made some great strides and the prize money is fantastic but we want to keep striving to be better and to have full investment across the whole global game. I think that is something that is incredibly important for the women's space is we want everyone to be getting better not just a select few."
This tournament will be Devine's fifth and final 50-over world cup and she said since her first one the level of off-field support the White Ferns received has increased as the professionalism of the game has also increased.
"When I first started it looked very different to what it does now, the number of camps that we've had this year, the investment we've had in terms of support staff, and that's not just your trainers it's nutritionists, it's physios. There's so many people that wrap around that now where when I first started support staff was maybe three or four staff on the road with you.
"So I think that is where you can see some big gains in the women's space is that professionalism, the athleticism of a lot of the girls. With that comes pressure but I think that's exciting and we should certainly take it on our shoulders."
Ready as they'll ever be
White Ferns coach Ben Sawyer said the investment from New Zealand Cricket meant the White Ferns were as ready for this World Cup as they will ever be.
"I can honestly say that in the four world events I've been part of with this group, we are the best prepared we've ever been," Sawyer said.
"Having no international cricket in our calendar since April has given us the ability to work really hard on our physical skills in particular, which is something that could be the difference in India.
"There is seven real quality opposition [teams] there, someone like the West Indies missed out on this, so I think that shows the strength of where the World Cup is this time around."
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