FairBreak is creating opportunities to progress gender equality

The management team of FairBreak includes high-profile cricketers from around the world such as South African Mignon du Preez and Pakistan's Sana Mir.

Its head of operations is based in Indian city Bangalore and the general manager is in San Diego.

Shaun Martyn, who founded FairBreak in 2013 with Lisa Sthalekar, runs the entire operation from his front deck in Narooma.

When Sthalekar, former captain of Australia's female cricket team, retired in 2013 she was the world's highest paid female cricketer on $15,000 per year.

"FairBreak started because remuneration for women in cricket was so poor and we needed to do something about it," Mr Martyn said.

FairBreak achieved a milestone last May in Dubai with the 2022 FairBreak Invitational T20, featuring players from countries that often are overlooked on the international cricket stage: Hong Kong, Bhutan, Nepal, Malaysia and Namibia, to name a few.

Some 90 women from 35 countries played at the tournament. Only the Olympics brings together athletes from more countries.

"For many of them it is a life-changing experience so we do as much in terms of social impact for these women as any sporting organisation but we do it using cricket as the vehicle," Mr Martyn said.

READ MORE:

FairBreak has plans for another tournament to be held in Hong Kong in April with another to follow later in the year.

Mr Martyn said it was easy to get support for FairBreak from individual high-profile cricketers of both genders but not the various cricket boards.

"It took about 10 years for the ICC to sanction our international tournament and I have done that in partnership with the board of Cricket Hong Kong," Mr Martyn said.

"But now we have a relationship with them and they understand our work and what we do."

Not happy with merely "changing the world by creating opportunities to progress gender equality," FairBreak has a sustainability element, Mr Martyn said.

All its players play in recycled plastic cloth and some of the branding collateral from the Dubai tournament will be repurposed for the Hong Kong event.

It will eventually be sent to the US to be turned into bags and pencil cases.

Moruya Heads resident Karen Motyka doesn't consider herself a cricket-fan and says she "fell into the whole FairBreak thing by accident".

Ms Motyka started helping FairBreak out leading up to the Dubai tournament in 2022 when asked by a friend. She gained a reputation as a wordsmith within the company.

When Mr Martyn wanted FairBreak's 20 year history and fight for global recognition told in a book, he asked Ms Motyka.

"Shaun wanted the FairBreak book written," Ms Motyka said.

"He wanted the struggle he's had with cricket institutions documented and written down."

She said the timing for telling the story was right, after the success of FairBreak's breakout tournament in May.

Ms Motyka admitted she questioned his wisdom - choosing someone who wasn't particularly interested in cricket to tell the story, however Mr Martyn insisted he specifically wanted someone who hadn't been immersed in cricket their whole life to write the book.

"It is not a book about cricket," Ms Motyka said. "It is about the people who have made this movement what it is."

She interviewed cricketing stars from across the globe who had been involved in FairBreak: umpire Simon Taufel, Geoff Lawson and Alex Blackwell.

In just five months, Ms Motyka transformed these interviews into her first every book: FairBreak released in December 2022.

"The book tells the story of FairBreak and the struggle for female cricketers, not just in Australia, but globally, to be fairly represented, valued, paid, sponsored, broadcast and celebrated for the incredible athletes they are," Ms Motyka said.

She and Mr Martyn will be hosting a book launch at Manuka Oval, Canberra when the ACT Meteors take on a FairBreak 11 on February 4.

Before that, however, the pair wanted to host a book launch for their south coast community.

They will be holding a soft-launch at Mogendura Farm on January 27. Tickets are available here: mogendoura.com.au/event.../fairbreak-book-launch