England women’s match fees for internationals have been increased to equal the men’s with immediate effect.
The change was recommended in the Independent Commission for Equity in Cricket (ICEC) report, which found discrimination is “widespread” in English and Welsh cricket.
It said women were paid 25% of men’s fees for white-ball and 15% for Tests by the England and Wales Cricket Board.
England captain Heather Knight said the change was “fantastic to see”.
Match fees are paid for each appearance in addition to England players’ wider salaries from the ECB, which are not impacted by this change.
The ICEC report, which highlighted racism, sexism, classism and elitism, found the average salary for England women is 20.6% of that for England men, while the England women’s captain’s allowance is 31% of that awarded to the men’s captain.
ECB chief executive Richard Gould said the standardising of match fees was only the “first step” in a more equal game.
“That is what we want,” he told BBC Sport.
“That is what society wants. To do that we need to make sure the market also recognises the value of both men’s and women’s cricket.”
Increasing men’s match fees has been mooted as a way to fight off the threat of losing England players to contracts with global franchise leagues.
While admitting there is no current plan to do so, Gould said there is no commitment to increasing the women’s fee again if the sum awarded to their male counterparts increases.
“This is the latest stage and people can see from it the intent of what we are trying to do,” he said.
“We have no plans to increase the men’s specific match fees but there will be other ways, whether it is central contracts or other areas.
“I would never want to restrict our movement in order to retain whatever talent we can.
“But this is a significant investment into the women’s game and we will continue that investment.
“We are going to make sure by hook or by crook we retain all of our best talent – both men and women.”