Professional Cricketers’ Association released groundbreaking Women’s Impact Report: Accelerating Action for Players

The Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA) released a groundbreaking Women’s Impact Report ‘Accelerating Action for Players’ at an event to celebrate International Women’s Day (IWD) held at the iconic Nursery Pavilion at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London, UK. 

In partnership with the Englsh Cricket Board (ECB), an event called Accelerate Action in Sport supported the IWD Accelerate Action theme by focusing on the urgency needed in closing the gap between men’s and women’s sport and for speeding up the process of gender equity.

Women’s Impact Report: Accelerating Action for Players

The PCA Women's Cricket Impact Report: Accelerating Action for Players report is truly impressive and details recent advancements in the women’s game, along with future ambitions of the Association.

The report celebrates the increased professionalism of the women’s game since 2021.

The overview of progress is detailed alongside a timeline of key events, as the report explains the employment improvements, from first-year rookies to experienced England internationals.

The report, which includes welcomes from England captain Heather Knight and Durham’s Katie Levick, highlights a number of measurables, such as the domestic remuneration pot rising from £720,000 in 2021 to £4 million and starting salaries equalised with the men’s players. 

The report also portrays areas where improvements are still needed such as in The Hundred where the disparity between the men’s and women’s top salaries has increased.

“The Women’s Impact Report shows how dedicated the Association and the wider game has been to enhancing the provision and standards in the women’s game. These changes would not have been possible without joined up thinking and a strong, robust relationship with the ECB, recognising that collaboration was needed over a prolonged period of time to improve cricket in England and Wales for our professional women’s cricketers," said PCA Chief Executive, Daryl Mitchell [pictured below].

"Releasing the Women’s Impact Report highlights the results of having a truly engaged group of players who have provided constructive thoughts and guidance to help shape the growth of the women’s game. The figures in the report are a result of many years of hard work and are testament to the importance of current and future professional cricketers. However, there is still work to do in conjunction with the ECB as we collaboratively make strides towards gender equity," said PCA Director of Player Rights and Women’s Cricket, Emma Reid.

An impactful Accelerate Action in Sport event

The Accelerate Action in Sport event where the Report was launched, was opened with a welcome from PCA Chief Executive, Daryl Mitchellm and saw a number of panel discussions from some of the industry’s finest speakers, sharing their expertise in equality, diversity and inclusion in women’s sport.

The event included a session hosted by PCA Director of Player Rights and Women’s Cricket, Emma Reid, with England cricketer, Kate Cross.

Great panel discussions on gender equality topics

“It gives me great pleasure to see everyone at Lord’s celebrating our Accelerate Action in Sport event for International Women’s Day, but it also sends a reminder that the game should continue to be driven by the standards set out by the ICEC report as we aspire to make those recommendations a reality. Gender equity in cricket can only be achieved when all professional players have equal opportunity to build viable careers and be the best cricketer they can be," said PCA Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Director, Donna Fraser OBE [pictured above]. Donna is former Olympian, a four-time competitor in the 400 metre race for Great Britain, and has won medals at the World Championships, European Championships, and Commonwealth Games. She was awarded an OBE for her work in diversity and inclusion in sport. She is the first person to be appointed to the Director of Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion role at the PCA.

One of the event's panels saw a discussion on the topic of Personal Brand and Media, featuring former England star and current PCA England Legends captain Alex Tudor, former women’s international rugby player Manjinder Nagra, and Sky Sports reporter Chris Reidy.

A further panel discussion looked at Disruptive Leadership followed by an insightful Q&A session. The panel featured Women in Sport CEO Stephanie Hilborne OBE, co-founder of sporting consultancy See You At Jeanie’s Laura Weston, and former Arsenal and West Bromwich Albion defender Brendon Batson OBE.

Stephanie joined Women in Sport in 2019 and is a big advocate of pay parity between genders in sport and making sports a more diverse field.

Laura is the co-founder of See You At Jeanie’s – a women’s sports consultancy company which aims to help sporting organisations and brands associated with sports capitalise on the ever-growing popularity of women’s sports.

The event also saw Sky Sports reporter Chris Reidy host a panel which included: Olympic athlete Desiree Henry, Women in Sport Trustee Laura Weston, former cricketer and PCA Inclusion Champion Abi Sakande, Surrey cricketer Tash Farrant, and Director of Public Relations at Vitality, Alexa Murray.

The closing keynote address was delivered by former British rower, Olympian and sport administrator Annamaire Phelps CBE.

A time of change for women's cricket

The Accelerate Action in Sport event was hosted at a time of great change in women’s cricket in the UK. 2025 marks the year of the new tiered system in the which sees regional teams get merged with the counties, thereby increasing the number of professional female cricketers in the country by a substantial margin.

The year also holds significant importance in women’s sports on the international level. 2025 sees two major international tournaments – the ICC Women’s World Cup in India and the UEFA Women’s European Championships in Switzerland.

"2025 is certainly a year to celebrate women’s cricket in the country with it being the first year of the new tier 1 county structure. The PCA is constantly striving to support the growth of the women’s professional game in England and Wales and have played a crucial role in accelerating the development of the game over the past 12 months, which is a great example of this year’s theme for International Women’s Day," commented PCA Director of Player Rights & Women’s Cricket, Emma Reid.

"Every year there has been significant improvements to the contractual and commercial conditions of England players. The bar is constantly being raised and player views are being listened to and prioritised," said England vice captain, Nat Sciver-Brunt.

"We are no longer grateful to just have a contract. With the PCA leading the players’ voice, we trust them to continue representing the collective for current and future generations," shared England and Somerset spinner, Charlie Dean.

"For years I had a full-time job alongside playing top level domestic cricket as an amateur. The progress made in the past five years has been astounding, and we now have a really competitive system domestically that is increasing the pool of top-level players," explained Lancashire batter, Eve Jones.

Representing first-class cricketers

The Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA), founded in 1967 by former England fast bowler Fred Rumsey as the Cricketers’ Association, represents past and present first-class cricketers in England and Wales. In the 1970s, the PCA established a standard employment contract and minimum wage for professional cricketers. It also helped create a pension scheme in 1995 and launched the magazine All Out Cricket and the ACE UK Educational Programme in 2002.