Cricket Australia has come out and defended it's stance on pregnant women's players, saying that by asking players to confirm they aren't pregnant before signing a contract is simply duty of care.
CA were unfire on Thursday after documents was released with details surrounding logistics of female players contracts, but a CA spokesperson went in to bat for their motives.
"The safety of any player, whether they be Cricket Australia, Women's Big Bash League or state and territory contracted, is always our number one priority," a CA statement said.
"We are committed to providing a safe environment for all cricket players (including pregnant players) and all other cricket participants.
"We are well aware of and abide by Federal, State and Territory legislation which makes it unlawful to discriminate against a player on the basis of pregnancy or potential pregnancy.
"Any player who becomes pregnant is encouraged to make her own decision on whether or not to continue playing cricket in consultation with her medical advisers."
Cricket Australia's executive general manager of team performance, Pat Howard, echoed the calls that the clause was purely safety related.
"In everything we do, we place the health and safety of our players as the highest priority," Howard said.
"Our only interest in whether one of our women players is pregnant is to ensure the health of her and her baby, and we have strict rules around medical confidentiality.
"We are very mindful that cricket involves physical risk, and we need to ensure that our medical staff and players are aware of every aspect that can affect a player's health.
"All our policies have been developed in conjunction with the Australian Cricketers' Association, and together we will continue to refine and improve all policies and contractual clauses that relate to player health and safety.''
