Cricket Australia reveals 10-year plan to bolster women’s cricket in Australia

The GIST: After investing millions in women’s soccer and restructuring the WNBL, Australia is turning its attention to women’s cricket. Governing body Cricket Australia (CA) unveiled a 10-year plan yesterday formulated with input from top players on how to grow the game, which includes a goal to boost revenue by $65.3M to reach $79.1M by 2034. Getting her the (baggy) green.

The details: By 2034, the governing body wants $327M invested in women-specific cricket infrastructure and all domestic players to become full-time professionals. CA also wants at least 40% female representation in key off-field positions, 600K fans annually at women’s cricket matches, and for 100K girls aged 5 to 12 to pick up the axe.

The global landscape: Cricket is most popular in South Asia and India is its biggest market, where the men’s Indian Premier League was valued at $5.3B in 2017 and its cricket board is worth $2.25B — 28x more than CA’s $79M value. And while the International Cricket Council mandates equal pay at its events, women cricketers receive a fraction of the media exposure and investment.

• Despite this, India is investing in women’s cricket growth in historic ways — the Women’s Premier League sold its five initial franchises for $114.4M per franchise, is now valued at $150M a year into operations, and recently inked one of the largest rights deals in women’s sports.

The context: Australia has historically been the top contender in women’s cricket, and a 2020 survey showed the national women's cricket team had the strongest emotional connection with Aussie fans, just ahead of soccer’s Matildas. However, in order for CA to reach its goal to make cricket Australia's leading sport for women and girls, it’ll have to catch up to soccer first.

Zooming out: The CA’s plan plays into an Australian trend of revamping women’s sports infrastructure and a global movement of women’s cricket investment, which is already paying off in India. The women’s game is only currently generating 5% of Australia’s cricket revenue despite its prestige, but Australia is hoping to change that by filling stands and TV screens. Winners all-round.