Just 2 days after the inaugural Women’s Premier League 2023 Auction took place, a huge development has come across the world of women’s cricket. If the reports are to be believed then Star Australian women cricketers are all set to snub the Women’s hundred tournament which started in 2021 under English cricket board’s umbrella.
Major Australian players like Meg Lanning, Ashleigh Gardener and Tahlia McGrath who all had suitors in the WPL 2023 auction will not be featuring in the 3rd season of the Hundreds. The Aussie trio were among the 14 Women cricketers who were sold in the auction.
The first-ever WPL season will start in the beginning of March right after the ICC Women’s T20 World cup concludes. And the Aussie players are reportedly pulling out from the 100-ball event due to the growing intensity in the cricketing schedule.
Australia will play three Women’s Championship One-Day Internationals against Ireland in late July before touring England for the multi-format Ashes series. The Hundred takes place from August 1 to 27, with Australia’s home international summer set to begin in September against the West Indies. They will then compete in the WBBL before embarking on a multi-format tour to India.
Leading Australians opt for rest as the Hundred feels the WPL's squeeze #Cricket https://t.co/KReQj5pe7j
— Cricket News (@CricNews365) February 14, 2023
In terms of a financial perspective, the Hundred is way behind the WPL wages. All the 14 Australian women players will reportedly earn a total sum of INR 14.25 Crore and the Hundred’s highest pay is £31,250. Gardener, Lanning and McGrath pulled out from the Hundred even before the WPL Auction.
For a fact, the exclusion of some of biggest women cricket stars from the Hundred could make life difficult for the league to exist in the future. All in all, the Women’s Premier League has taken over the world and the impact of the tournament is started to show its effects.
