LAHORE – The Pakistan Cricket Board has asked all the members of the cricket team to sign their central contracts by April 12. The PCB announced the central contacts for 19 players earlier this month and has now asked the players to sign the deal with the board before they set off to the West Indies.
The PCB has divided the players into three categories for six months. Category A players will get Rs 250,000 per month, category B players will get Rs 175,000 per month while category C player will get Rs 100,000 per month. Apart from the suspended players Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt, former captains Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Yousuf, Danish Kaneria and Rana Naveed ul Hasan were also not considered for the contracts.
The suspended trio have filed an appeal against the ban imposed by the ICC’s tribunal. PCB awarded the members of the World Cup squad the contracts, and the list will be revised for the next six months as Shoaib Akhtar has already announced his retirement while Abdul Razzaq, Kamran Akmal, and Younus Khan might not be among the next batch of contracted players. The PCB, before selecting players for the next six months, asked the already announced players to sign their central contracts by April 12. Nineteen players are currently contracted with the PCB; 15 of them featured in the recently held ICC Cricket World Cup 2011.
Importantly, the PCB is also taking measures to keep a close check on the players’ recent performances as well as their income and wealth tax returns. Apart from Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Yousuf, and Danish Kaneria, Fawad Alam and Imran Farhat are the other players who were not awarded contracts last year and also failed to get their name in the contract this year. The central contracts have been awarded for six months, starting from January 1, and will end on June 30, 2011.
