Connor: Higher pay key to stop women from leaving the game

ICC head Clare Connor is urging cricket bodies around the world to follow Australia's lead and increase player wages to help stop women from dropping out.

Cricket Australia has increased women's salaries eight times which has resulted in pay rocketing from AUD7.5million to AUD55.2million.

Connor, the former England captain and head of England women's cricket, believes other countries should also increase player salaries, as higher pay is key to the games' progression and helps prevent players from moving elsewhere.

"We are all going to think very seriously of how well our players are remunerated," Connor said. "Because if we don't look after them they will go and choose other sports or other professions and that will be a tragedy.

"We are just starting out on our journey, hence there is a lot of discrepancy or difference how players are paid in various corners of the globe," she added.

India's cricket board, the world's richest, has also promised a salary increase for women players, but no details have been announced.

"They (Australia) are certainly setting the bar very high and this is a key issue for lots of countries. It is amazing that international women can earn that sort of money," Connor said.

"(India) have got a team that has captured the imagination and obviously got a huge number of girls that could be attracted to the game as a result," she added.

England's World Cup victory was hailed as a breakthrough for women's cricket, will full stadiums and high TV ratings across the globe.

But, top players have said that there has to be follow-up from the cricket hierarchy to acknowledge the potential for growth in the sport.

Connor believes that higher salaries is a key area for women's cricket as it moves mainstream and generates increasing commercial opportunities.

"Obviously the men get in significant commercial revenues to the game," Connor said.

"We are just starting out on our journey, hence there is a lot of discrepancy or difference how players are paid in various corners of the globe," she added.

Cricket's Greatest

She added that ICC meetings in Auckland this week would "look at the strategy for the women's game to grow it and to ensure that we have got more competitive teams than just the strong top eight".

Surveys by the ICC have highlighted the growing popularity of the game and increased media coverage.

"I think the right ambition is that it should be as easy or as accessible for a girl to pick up a cricket bat as it is for a boy to pick up a cricket bat," said Connor.