Women’s Premier League 2023: Ellyse Perry, Tahlia McGrath, Australia nominees who can hit the jackpot

Female players could charge upwards of $500,000 for a few weeks’ work, with Australian superstars Ashleigh Gardner, Tahlia McGrath, Alyssa Healy, Ellyse Perry, Grace Harris, Meg Lanning and Darcie Brown among the most sought-after international players.

Women’s cricket pioneer Marg Jennings told how she had to pay to play when she was inducted into Australia’s Cricket Hall of Fame, but more than 40 years later some stars may have their annual reward from the game (CA contract plus overseas leagues) in the seven-digit range.

Five foreign players can be picked up from each of the five Indian franchises, meaning several Australians should be big winners in a mystery auction expected to take place next week.

News Corp understands that all of Australia’s contract players, as well as three-quarters of the native Australian scene, entered their names in an auction where players were asked to nominate one of three numbers as the base price for potential bidders.

Australia’s T20 team flew to South Africa for the World Cup on Tuesday night, but the big talking point among players is who could make history at an auction considered a milestone in women’s football.

“I submitted my nomination quite late just because I didn’t know what to base my base price on,” said world No. 1 T20 player Tahlia McGrath.

“There was a lot of chatting with others, seeing what they were doing, a lot of um and ahh. I just wanted to belong. I just wanted to get my foot in the door.

“Hopefully there’s a bit of interest and a few teams are interested in me.”

McGrath has nominated Harris and Gardner as her two standout No. 1 predictions due to their brutal all-around skills in the T20 format.

But McGrath’s timing is impeccable, having just been crowned the ICC’s T20 Player of the Year.

It would be an incredible story should Harris finish high on the tender as she was overlooked for a Cricket Australia contract last April.

Harris laughed at her own chances and nominated a Smokey herself.

“I think someone like Darcie Brown is different from her fast pace. Depends on how they want to set up their team,” Harris said.

“Other than that, there’s Pez (Perry) and Midge (Healy, they certainly go in the top two.

“Everyone loves Pez in India and Midge is quite similar. Also from a commercial point of view the two will be picked up.

“In terms of skills, if I’m picked number 1, I won’t say no! I accept it. But there are no expectations there.”

Young Australian ODI debutant Phoebe Litchfield could be an attractive prospect for Indian bidders, while recently retired Australian great Rachael Haynes has ruled out a nomination for the auction.

Young spinner Alana King played an Exhibition T20 tournament in India last year and watched more than 40,000 watch Australia’s internationals against India in December.

King believes women’s football is on the verge of something massive.

“It will be life-changing for some players. We don’t know how much money will be thrown around, but it will be significant money for people to make,” King said.

“It’s going to open up a lot of windows for a lot of players.

“It’s amazing how much money can be spent on women’s cricket and it’s a huge stepping stone in the right direction. Women’s football deserves… and this platform is very exciting.”

Originally released as Aussie superstars taking massive hits in the seminal Women’s Premier League