LAHORE: The Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Management Committee Zaka Ashraf on Monday announced remuneration for national players in the new Central Contracts which will be handed to players soon.
He also confirmed that women cricketers will also be remunerated like never before.
On the occasion of the orientation of the first class of the Women Players Development Program of Lahore Qalandars, Ashraf talked about the pool of talent in Pakistan and other important stuff.
“There is a lot of talent in Pakistan and we need to encourage this talent. Cricketers are our life and identity. Pakistan team have to participate in Asia Cup and World Cup. We wish the team to do well, we want to see the team at the top, this team will live up to the expectations,” he said.
“The central contract of men cricketers is being doubled, we want the players to earn money from cricket and serve the country and bring the team to the top.”
The Chairman also said that ever since he took charge of the PCB, he has consistently put efforts to improve women cricket. The salary of women cricketers is increasing massively. He also said that he is introducing domestic contracts.
He added that the pathway program is being organized while they will be provided with grounds which will be reserved for women cricketers only. He also said that a women's league is also being launched on the style of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) PSL which will give opportunities to women cricketers.
Earlier, the PCB decided to end the red and white ball category from the Central Contracts.
The new contracts will now be distributed in four different categories, named A, B, C and D, to the players, sources reported.
The PCB also decided to reduce the number of players — which was 33 in the last year — in the central contract to 25 or 26.
It must be noted that the contracts expired on June 30 but were extended for a month due to uncertainty regarding chairmanship in the PCB.
Sohail Imran Sohail Imran is a senior reporter for Geo News.