Charlie Dean hopes new investment can help with pay disparity in The Hundred

Charlie Dean is optimistic new investment into The Hundred can lead to a narrowing of the pay gap between the men’s and women’s cricketers involved.

Salaries for the tournament’s fifth edition have increased, with the men’s top bracket at £200,000, a 60 per cent rise from 2024, and the leading women receiving £65,000, up by only 30 per cent.

But there is the possibility for further growth with more than £500million being pumped into the sport following stakes of the eight franchises being sold to private investors, with six deals completed.

“One of The Hundred’s biggest taglines is about equality and equal opportunity,” Dean said. “When you champion that and the numbers are slightly different, then there can be questions that are asked.

“Hopefully with this new investment we keep moving forward in a way to stop pay disparity moving further away from each other.

“It’s great our pay is increasing year-on-year. It feels like we get to a point where we feel like we should be grateful for where we’re at but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t keep pushing forward.”

Dean will captain defending champions London Spirit, who get this year’s competition started when they take on London rivals Oval Invincibles in a women’s and men’s double-header at Lord’s on Tuesday.

“We need to get people in the ground watching our games and making sure we’ve got viewers on TV and we can only do that by looking to get better and looking after the things we can look after,” Dean said.

“As long as things are moving forward in the right direction and the gender pay gap doesn’t move away from each other at this point, we can be happy.”

Dean takes the reins from Heather Knight, who is out of the Spirit’s title defence with a hamstring problem, although the former England captain is with the team in a coaching and mentoring role.

Dean previously led the Spirit in 2022, when Knight was missing due to injury, and they finished second bottom, but the England spinner is convinced she is better equipped to handle captaincy duties now.

“It’s an exciting challenge for me, stepping into Heather’s big shoes,” Dean added. “It’s lovely she’ll be around.

“I’ve grown so much as a cricketer and a person since I captained the first time around – I was thrown in at the deep end a bit. It feels like I’m in a different stage now.”