Golden Stars

The women's cricket world has been turned upside-down this morning with the announcement of HUGE pay rises for the Australian women's team - the Southern Stars.

According to The Australian:

The top player retainer increases from $15,000 to $52,000 and the minimum retainer increases from $5000 to $25,000.

With tour payments also increasing from $100 to $250 per day - and 85 tour days within the next year - the country's top female cricketers can earn $70,000 to $80,000 in the next 12 months.

$80,000 = £50,000 - more or less - so that's a lot more than the top England players are earning; and (as far as I can see???) these are pure cricket contracts.

The response from the England players so far has been diplomatic - Dani Wyatt tweeted that it was "great news for women's cricket" - but she (and the rest) wouldn't be human if they didn't find themselves going a little green-in-the-eye this morning.

And as for the ECB? If they ever want to win-back that No. 1 ranking, they've got some serious thinking to do: the gauntlet has been well and truly thrown down!