It has been revealed female cricketers have to prove they are not pregnant before signing professional contracts and are also not afforded maternity leave.

Australian male cricketers on the other hand are allowed to fly home for the birth of their children.

Test captain Steve Smith and his deputy Dave Warner have got behind the ACA in giving their signatures to support gender equality in cricket.

“Our female members find it outdated at best and rather condescending that they can only sign one-year contracts, making life planning very difficult while men can sign multi-year contracts,” the ACA said in a pay submission leaked to the Australian.

Allan Border Medal winner Ellyse Perry (pictured) 

“(Women) have to ‘warrant’ that they are not, to the best of their knowledge, pregnant when they sign their contract to play for Australia, which in itself is contrary to acceptable employer behaviour in any other Australian workplace.”

The women’s Big Bash League Channel Ten television ratings were described by Cricket Australia as a hit.

"The bumper opening weekend of the Rebel Women's Big Bash League in Sydney has proved to be enormous success with record ratings, crowd numbers and interest among fans," it said.

Women’s contracts are also significantly less ($40,000 plus super) compared to their male counterparts ($270,000).

Part of this could be explained by the massive sponsorship and broadcast rights associated with the men’s game.