A prize fund of £600,000 has been announced by the ECB, with £10,000 reserved for the most valuable players in each tournament
Men's and women's teams in The Hundred will be competing for a £600,000 prize pot divided equally across the two competitions, it has been announced.
Following on from last year's announcement of a £20 million action plan for encouraging the growth of the women's game, the eight teams competing this summer in each tournament will be awarded £150,000 for lifting the maiden trophies in August.
Losing finalists will be awarded £75,000 while teams defeated in the first game of the respective finals days will collect £50,000.
A further £50,000 will be set aside to reward individual top performers in each league, with £10,000 going to the players nominated as the tournaments' most valuable and £5,000 to the most prolific batters, bowlers and fielders.
The move follows a similar split prize launched by Cricket Australia in 2017, which saw a fund of almost A$1.2 million (£610,000) allocated across the latest instalments of its T20 and 50-over competitions.
Beth Barrett-Wild, the director of the The Hundred's women's tournament, said: "We're really proud of our movement towards making cricket a gender-balanced sport and, whilst we're aware there is more to do in this space, this is an important step in the right direction.
"It's recognition for the women's players and the huge value they bring to The Hundred.
"The ECB is committed to transforming women's and girls' cricket, from inspiring young girls to pick up a bat for the first time, through to establishing the women's game as a professional career option.
"This announcement today represents one signal of intent towards that commitment."
Players in The Hundred, like Manchester Originals pair Kate Cross and Saqib Mahmood, will compete for equal prize money
The announcement follows earlier criticism around a significant imbalance between player salaries for the two competitions, which will feature consistent team identities.
Top earners in the women's event will collect £15,000 across the four-week tournament (along with a possible £1,200 captaincy bonus) compared to the baseline men's salary of £30,000.
For players such as Moeen Ali and Steve Smith, who have been appointed captains of their respective Birmingham Phoenix and Welsh Fire sides, this figure could rise to £135,000 when captaincy bonuses are included.
The prize money represents a significant increase from that found in previous women's domestic tournaments. The ECB only first offered financial incentives for women's players with the Kia Super League, which had a total pot of £65,000 for its first running in 2016.
Heather Knight, captain of England's women and leader of Western Storm during their KSL title campaigns in 2017 and 2019, described the move as "a great announcement for women's sport".
In a press release, London Spirit captain Knight remarked: "Women's professional cricket is on an exciting journey and, whilst there is still a way to go to realise gender parity, this move from The Hundred is a significant step in the right direction.
"We're all really excited about playing in the new competition and hopefully inspiring more young girls and boys to pick up a bat and ball."
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