Positive changes made ahead of season

Professional men’s and women’s cricketers in England and Wales have discussed what’s important to their dressing rooms with the Players’ Association ahead of the start of the new season.

The PCA conducted meetings with all 18 Professional Men’s teams and the nine Tier 1 Professional Women’s Counties collecting views and updating players on important topics, changes and advancements moving forward in order to represent their collective needs.

Building on discussions with players communicated from previous meetings, the Association worked on improving Education Funding, which has increased by £2,000 per year, revamping the Legal Policy and increasing insurance levels.

The Hundred was a key topic on the agenda with players engaging in discussions around the advancements across the men’s and women’s games. More opportunities for domestic players, 80% of new money in The Hundred going to domestic players and the removal of the 12.5% county repayment were all well received at the meetings.

Of players that attended the pre-season meetings, 91% believe they have a clear say on player issues in the game, whilst the Association is continuing to look into county expenses, and a broader expenses policy.

Players were also updated on the PCA’s three-year strategy that has been created for 2026-2028 based on feedback from extensive research in 2025 through pre-season meetings and surveys from current and former players.

The players feel strongly about the need to increase the Futures Fund pot and the PCA is in negotiations on the topic currently.

A reduction of back-to-back Blast games was viewed as a resounding positive by the playing group with 86% of players feeling that developments to the Blast will result in an improved competition. The PCA is involved in the ongoing collaboration looking into the women’s 2027 schedule.

Where scheduling allowed, joint men’s and women’s meetings were held, such as at Yorkshire where the women’s side have joined the professional ranks in Tier 1.

Meetings commenced on Tuesday 24 February with a joint men’s and women’s meeting at Trent Bridge with Nottinghamshire and The Blaze and finished yesterday (Wednesday 1 April) at Sussex.

Updates were also provided on Personal Development and Welfare Programme education plans with the ‘Be Well, Play Well’ initiative focussing on positive and intentional wellbeing education, met with enthusiasm by dressing rooms.

Players were also informed on recent updates from the Cricketers’ Trust, the players’ charity announcing Alec Stewart as the new Chair alongside the publication of the Cricketers’ Trust Five-Year Impact Report – highlighting the incredible work of the Trust since 2021 and the all-encompassing support on offer to PCA members and their immediate families.

PCA Chief Executive, Daryl Mitchell, said: “The player engagement has been positive and there has been lots to discuss around The Hundred auction and Education Funding increasing.

“The PCA strategy has been an important topic, we took the players’ feedback from last year and implemented that into a three-year strategy showing them how we are going to spend their money and utilise our service provision for them.

“Ongoing negotiations around the Futures Fund was a big topic for players, when you see £500 million come into the game from The Hundred, players want to know how that can benefit them. We’ve got a clear message from the players about how important it is because that is the one mechanism where every player in the country benefits.”

Former England international and Warwickshire all-rounder, Chris Woakes, said: “It’s always good to touch base with the PCA, we know how great they are for us as players, they’ve always got our backs and it’s good to talk about what is important.

“There’s lots that goes on behind the scenes that players don’t realise, especially with the Futures Fund, for someone like me at this stage in my career, it’s good to know that’s moving in the right direction.

“Sometimes we can get carried away with the negatives but from the meeting you can see that there’s never been such a good time to be a player, opportunities wise, and that’s great to recognise.”

Yorkshire bowler, Rachel Slater, said: “It’s really beneficial for the players to see where the game is at and what work the PCA has been doing and it allows players to understand how they can develop on and off the pitch through all the opportunities.

“Getting both squads together in a room is always great once everyone is back together before kicking on into the new season.

“It’s so much easier when you’re on a personal level with PCA staff and you have that relationship where you know you can go to them and ask anything.”

Joint PCA Essex rep and bowler, Eva Gray, said: “We got a great insight into the work that the PCA has been doing and what the plan is going forward with the three-year strategy.

“I’ve seen over the last 12 months how supported we are from the PCA and our voice is really heard in those discussions.

“It’s really important to keep on about the Futures Fund, it’s something that has been topical in the discussions so it was good for the squad to keep learning about that.”