The men's and women's teams competing in new cricket tournament The Hundred will receive equal prize money.

The Telegraph has reported that the England and Wales Cricket Board want a "gender balanced" tournament and the teams will share a prize pot of £600,000.

Both winning teams will receive £150,000 each and £75,000 will go to the runners-up. There will only be one losing semi-finalist due to the format that sees the team who tops the group go straight to the final. They will receive £50,000. 

Also, there will be individual awards for the leading run-scorer, the leading wicket-taker and the leading fielder who will each be awarded £5,000. The most valued player will receive £10,000.

The ECB has ensured that the women will travel in the same standard of coach, hotel and business class flights for international players. All players will receive a daily allowance of £35.

This is a huge increase in prize money from the fund available in the Kia Super League Twenty20 competition which preceded The Hundred. There was only £65,000 available for all the teams in the old league.

These newly announced winnings are equal to the women's Big Bash in Australia and follow the lead of the International Cricket Council who are offering $1.1 million for the winners of the ongoing World T20 which matches the prize money offered for the last men's T20 competition.

Despite this prize money, there are still significant disparities in the salaries for the players. While the top male player can earn £125,000, the salaries for the women cricketers are capped at £15,000. 

Heather Knight, England's captain and the captain of Lord's-based team London Spirit, told The Telegraph: “It would be wrong for us to expect to immediately earn the same salary as the men’s players – the women’s game isn’t played on the same scale as the men’s game at the moment.

“What it’s about is the direction of travel and everyone who works in cricket will know that women’s cricket is moving forward all the time. Equal prize money is another important development, and one day we’ll move towards equal pay."