A $500,000 kicker from Australia's male cricketers has ensured their female counterparts now have their private health insurance covered.
The Female Private Health Insurance Scheme, launched by the Australian Cricketers' Association (ACA) this summer, will see all 111 women's domestic and Southern Stars representatives covered for at least the next two years.
The cover is particularly welcoming for the game's domestic players, given the minimum contract of the Women's Big Bash League (WBBL) is $3000, while their 50-over competition has a retainer of $7000.
"It's nice to know that some of that has gone towards helping the female members," Southern Stars vice-captain Alex Blackwell told ABC Radio.
"I think it's a great initiative from the ACA and the male players to dip into those existing funds which come under an existing agreement with Cricket Australia (CA)."
A profit surplus, resulting from last year's World Cup and cancelled Champions League tournament, meant additional funds within the player pool would normally have been distributed across the male players.
However, with the involvement of the Australian Cricketers Association, the men agreed to transfer the money to give the game's female players automatic health coverage.
The news comes ahead of ACA's next meeting with CA at the end of February, where a women's Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), covering travel, accommodation, superannuation, scheduling and insurance, will be discussed.
The talks have also been boosted by the impressive WBBL ratings this summer, which eventually resulted in the women's national team receiving free-to-air exposure in their Twenty20s against India.
"Our product is actually viable and there is going to be greater revenue coming in from the women's game," Blackwell said.
"We're definitely on the right track and things have moved quickly. I'm really excited to see what happens in the next year or two."
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