Will Hundred help to close the gender pay gap?

England’s Tammy Beaumont hopes that a successful first season of The Hundred can help close cricket’s gender pay gap, but admits the new competition’s salary structure still has a way to go.

The new franchise tournament prides itself on providing an equal platform for men and women, with the marketing campaigns, matchday experience and prize money pots identical for both editions.

But there is one conspicuous difference: with male contracts worth between £24,000 and £100,000 while their female counterparts pick up a maximum of £15,000 and as little as £3,600.

Beaumont, below, who will turn out for London Spirit and also forms part of Sky Sports’ commentary team, believes The Hundred has already delivered a big boost to the profile of the women’s game, but is hoping that a positive response will see salaries shift in future years.

‘It’s time for women’s cricket to take that massive leap, to be on TV, to be on billboards. I’m proud to be part of it,’ she said.

‘That’s the draw of The Hundred in a way. On many, many levels it is very equal, but financially it’s not quite there yet. It is right to point it out.

‘I personally feel great that we are being treated the same as the men at London Spirit – the accommodation, the training, the media appearances – everything outside of payment is equal and I feel valued.

‘That’s a good starting point. I don’t see us being equal for a long time but let’s at least get closer to the men. I would love to see the ratio of the difference decrease.

‘Hopefully in the future the women go get a pay rise but there has been a global pandemic and a lot of people losing their jobs, so we know there isn’t an excess of money to throw at it.

‘We can’t demand equal pay if we don’t bring in the same things, I believe that, but I hope the demographics show the women’s game is the one that is drawing some of that new audience.

‘If we do get that support, maybe the financial rewards will get closer. If you look at the way sponsorship is going, sponsors want to be involved in gender equal sports.’

The Hundred starts tomorrow with a women’s match at The Oval between Oval Invincibles and Manchester Originals. The first men’s game is at the same ground between the same two teams on Thursday.

The Ageas Bowl-based Southern Brave franchise - both men’s and women’s teams - make their tournament debut against Trent Rockets at Trent Bridge on Saturday.

Ex-England captain Nasser Hussain is delighted The Hundred is starting with a women’s game.

‘I think it’s a great message to send out,’ he said. ‘Hopefully we will get to a stage one day where we won’t make as much of a deal about it. Why shouldn’t we start with the women’s game? They deserve the

centre stage.’