All-rounder Amelia Kerr hopes that now that full-time professionals are available, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) will “invest more” in women’s cricket.
Women cricketers will earn the same match fees as their male counterparts under a new five-year master agreement between NZC, the six major cricket associations in the country, and the New Zealand Cricket Players Association. “For a while, we have had half the team full-time professionals, and half balancing cricket and work. To have everyone as full-time professionals allows us to invest more in our cricket, and that’s so important,” Kerr was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.
“We want to perform, and the only way to get better is if we can train every day and put our focus into that. It is good to have balance outside of it. Having full-time professional athletes means we can work harder, and that’s our job—we turn up every day, and that’s what we are meant to do,” Kerr said.
Kerr is back after a two-month hiatus following the Women’s Premier League (WPL), when she was a member of the Mumbai Indians’ title-winning team.
Kerr had previously spent a significant amount of time on the road. She competed in the Hundred and the WBBL after helping New Zealand win a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games last August. She also played in the West Indies, Bangladesh at home, and the T20 World Cup in South Africa earlier this year before joining the WPL. “I am not one to always take that break, but it was a pretty full-on year
last year.