100 Women 2024 – Beth Mooney – ‘It’s not equal billing, because men earn more’

Mooney, 30, was first choice for the Originals this year, earning himself a £50,000-plus contract, two years after his exit from the competition, for London Spirit in 2022.

So, while the overall approach is the right one, Mooney is not about to be prematurely congratulatory about the state of women’s cricket in England, although she admits that the Hundred, with its shared facilities and double-header. -days, is one of the trendsetters in terms of providing equal opportunities for men’s and women’s competitions.

“I’m not sure the pay is quite equal, because the men still earn more,” Mooney told ESPNcricinfo during the KP Snacks event at Cheetham Hill. “But yes, in terms of exposure, and the fan base, and the level of competition, she’s certainly up there with the best. She’s doing a great job of getting more opportunities for women to play in this country. Cricket but, like any women’s game, we’re not there with equal pay.”

Last summer, a comprehensive report by the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) recommended that English cricket must be in a position to offer equal pay to hundreds by 2025. The ECB backtracked on that commitment, however, arguing. that the commercial and media importance of the women’s game is still far less than that of the men’s game.

Mooney agreed that it still is. “I don’t know if it’s a really achievable goal,” he said. “Obviously men bring in a lot of money around the world, in terms of viewers and broadcasts and stuff like that, so the salary is always tough.

“But we have to keep pushing the boundaries a little,” he added. “I think we have to continue to ask the right questions of the ICC, and each of the different national boards, and make sure we’re still trying to get, first and foremost, more girls in the game, but make sure there’s equal opportunities across the country and for women.”

This time last year, a number of Australia’s top female talents had dropped out of the Hundred, partly because of their pale at the WPL – the average spend of the 14 Australians picked at the auction was more than £100,000 each – but also. because their main goal during the off-season was the Women’s Ashes in June and July. This turned out to be a tie for many years, as England doubled the multi-format series at 8-8 after winning four of the six white-ball legs.

After years of dominance across formats, this was Australia’s closest to losing the Ashes since 2013-14. However, with the T20 World Cup looming in Bangladesh in October, Mooney was relishing the challenge to her side’s prominence, arguing that it was a natural consequence of the huge rise in popularity of women’s cricket around the world.

“I don’t know if there really is a gap to be honest,” he said. “I think every team in the world could be better, like us. We play a lot of cricket now, so there will be times when different teams beat each other. We are lucky to get those opportunities to put the game out there, and play competitive cricket.”

Either way, he doesn’t mind the situation that has started to emerge in the men’s game, where teammates in franchise competitions – such as Kuldeep Yadav and Tristan Stubbs at the Delhi Capitals – are reluctant to face the net and give away secrets ahead of international tournaments.

Two English skiers, Sophie Ecclestone and Lauren Filer, will be accompanying Mooney in Manchester, but she is sure that will not be a problem for training.

“You have to ask them, to be honest, but I don’t know if there is any talk about it in the women’s game,” he said. “We play a lot of franchise cricket now, and a lot of us are really good teammates. And there are no more secrets in global cricket, because there’s a lot of opinion from everybody. There’s nothing I’m going to do. They’ll be very surprised by it, either in the nets or in the game.”

He knows, however, that there will be high expectations surrounding his century return, partly because of his price tag, but also because of lingering memories of his maiden hundred appearance in 2022 – 97 not out from 55 balls for London Spirit against Southern. Courage, at the time the highest score in the history of the competition.

“I mean, I’m here to score runs and help the team win cricket matches, and hopefully give advice to different players along the way,” he said. “I certainly don’t look at it as anything more or less than that. Like any tournament I play in, whether it’s in Australia or at home in the Big Bash, I have a job to do, and that doesn’t change, regardless of whether I wear a colored shirt.

“There are high expectations from my point of view. But I also know that cricket is a dynamic game, and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. So, at the end of the day, you can’t hang a number next to your name, because that’s not always success in my eyes.”