Here come the professionals: more Scorpions add their names to the growing list of full-time cricketers

Thanks to a recent wage increase after a new Memorandum of Understanding with Cricket Australia more state female cricketers are turning pro.

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There’s a revolution taking place inside top-level South Australian women’s cricket: players are quitting their day jobs.

It’s an extraordinary situation for a sport that only five years ago didn’t pay its players any more than a $75 a day travel allowance for away games.

And change is happening quickly: thanks to the latest Memorandum of Understanding with Cricket Australia, state female Scorpion contracts are worth $26,000 per player, with a match payment of $1600.

This is up from the groundbreaking 2013/14 season where Scorpion cricketers received their first retainer of $2500 a season.

According to SACA, this means that state women now have the ability to earn $38,800 if they play all six minor round games and two finals.

An additional contract with the Women’s Big Bash League will net a player a tiered pay range anywhere between $11,000 and $28,000.

Scorpions teammates Bridget Patterson and Tegan McPharlin have recently quit their full-time jobs to focus on their cricket. Picture: Tait Schmaal

Scorpions vice-captain Tegan McPharlin — who quit her full-time job at a Balaklava printing and design business earlier this year — has been there through the transition.

She made her Scorpions debut in 2007 and wasn’t paid a cent.

“Back then, I just played for the love and invested all my time and energy because I just loved it and wanted to be a part of it,” she said.

“I am so glad that I stuck with it and I’ve got to this point, but I’m very jealous of the younger girls these days, because I just think the opportunities in front of them are just amazing, but I wouldn’t give it up for my journey.”

As a 30-year-old, McPharlin — the side’s wicketkeeper/batter and former captain — said she knew she was coming to the end of her cricket career and was pleased to quit her job to focus on enjoying her game.

But big-hitting Scorpion, Bridget Patterson, 24, is a relative newcomer, but also quit her job this year as a full-time groundskeeper at SACA.

The Kangaroo Islander, who got into cricket by playing the game in the schoolyard with the boys, said it was not that she didn’t love her day job — “Curators are kind of like the farmers of the city” — but the time was right.

And it’s paying off: Patterson made her maiden state WNCL century in September.

“Just being able to train more, and not be fatigued before training … obviously, my job was quite demanding, now I’m fresh and ready to go come training,” she said.

“Your cricket career is only so long, so if I can put all my time and effort in from a young age, who knows what might come from it.

“It’s daunting though, when you’re not having that income every fortnight … that’s what was kind of scary for me, but I knew the past four years, I’d set myself up well to be able to do that.”

Scorpions Bridget Patterson and Tegan McPharlin are looking forward to seeing where their cricket skills can take them now they’ve been able to quit work. Picture: Tait Schmaal

For McPharlin, quitting her day job also meant she could further immerse herself in cricket and recently accepted the role as assistant coach for the state under-15s girls.

“It’s such a weight off my shoulders not to have the stresses and pressures of a work environment as well as what can be high-performance sport,” she said.

“So I’ve found that I’m so much more relaxed, I have so much more time to get my head around different plans and processes ready for training.”

Australian cricketer and Scorpions captain Megan Schutt is the other professional cricketer, along with fellow Australian contracted player Amanda-Jade Wellington. In the squad of 16, most of the players are either studying or working usually part-time.

But as more of the players are able to follow suit, both McPharlin and Patterson agree it’s exciting to think about the positive impact that will have on the standard and quality of the women’s game overall.

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Originally published as Here come the professionals: more Scorpions add their names to the growing list of full-time cricketers