Australian world champion cricket team Southern Stars "are set to cash in as part of a plan to revolutionise the women’s game," according to Chris Barrett of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. Players are set "to have their incomes doubled in some cases" by featuring in a new Twenty20 tournament to be held in Singapore. Players including Meg Lanning, Ellyse Perry and Alex Blackwell "are being lined up" to star in the inaugural Women’s Int'l Cricket League, which will pay top players up to A$40,000 ($37,000) each for a six-team competition to be played over 10 to 12 days. The numbers "pale in comparison to the millions the men can earn" in the Indian Premier League and other T20 competitions around the world, but are "significant given what women cricketers currently pocket." The new league is the brainchild of former Southern Stars player Lisa Sthalekar and business partner Shaun Martyn. The hope is to "change the landscape of the women’s game." Martyn said, ‘‘Some of our tier-one players for the tournament will earn A$30,000-A$40,000. And that’s only in year one. We have to move that salary cap up each year as we grow the business." While Cricket Australia continues to discuss a women’s version of the Big Bash League -- the subject is expected to be on the agenda at a CA board meeting in Melbourne later this week -- the WICL "is pressing ahead for a proposed launch as soon as this year" (SMH, 4/29).
