ISSUES OF SIGNING CENTRAL CONTRACT FOR PAKISTANI PLAYERS...
PLAYERS BLAMES MISBAH AGAIN...
Former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik and eight other players in the national team have signed the central contracts offered to them by the Pakistan cricket Board, signaling a moral victory for the authorities.
Well-placed sources in the national team said that Malik and others signed the contracts after learning that the PCB had rejected demands from some players to further increase the pay hike given recently in central contracts and match fees.
The PCB had announced a 25 per cent raise in the monthly central contract retainers and another 10 per cent hike in the match fees.
"Malik signed the contract followed by others including the national T20 captain, Mohammad Hafeez, Saeed Ajmal and some of the younger players in Sri Lanka and handed it over to the manager," one source confirmed.
He said so far seniors like the national Test and ODI captain, Misbah-ul-Haq, Younis Khan and Shahid Afridi had not signed the contracts and had told the board they wanted to show the contracts to their legal advisors first.
A row broke out between some players and the board before the team left for Sri Lanka when senior players refused to sign the contracts and demanded an increased pay hike.
But the PCB made it clear through the team management in Sri Lanka that any player who doesn't sign the contracts will be deprived of a lot of facilities including insurance and bonuses.
While announcing the contracts and pay hikes the board had wanted the players to sign them before leaving for Sri Lanka.
"But now the process of getting the contracts signed is being completed in Sri Lanka by manager, Naved Cheema." one source said.
The source said players, who will only play the Tests in Sri Lanka including Faisal Iqbal and Taufiq Umar and who are attending a conditioning camp in Lahore, have agreed to sign their contracts this week.
PCB's legal advisor, Tafazzul Rizvi said that usually a period of 10 to 15 days is given to the players to sign the contracts as the board gives them time to consult their legal advisors if they feel this necessary.
"Otherwise there is nothing in these contracts that should worry the players. Most of the clauses remain the same and the amendments that were made were made in the last contracts," he said.
PCB rejects demand of players to further increase pay: Sources
LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board has rejected demands from some players to further increase the match fees and the pay announced recently in the central contracts, according to sources.
The PCB had announced a 25 per cent raise in the monthly central contract retainers and another 10 per cent hike in the match fees.
PCB exclude Kamran Akmal, Abdul Razzaq from central contracts list
Pakistan Cricket Board announced the list of players who would get central contracts and retainers this year with former captains Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Malik making a comeback while senior players Kamran Akmal and Abdul Razzaq were excluded.
The announcement came after a delay of four months since the contracts and retainers of the players had expired in December 2011.
While 21 players were given central contracts, another 21 got retainers. The Board announced an increase of 25 per cent in the monthly retainers given to players who have contracts and retainers and another 10 per cent increase in match fees.
The players in the top category of the central contracts will get a monthly retainer of 313,000 rupees while those in Category B will be paid 218,000 rupees and those in category C will get 130,000 rupees.
After the 10 per cent increase in their match fees, the top category players will be paid Test match fees of 385,000 rupees and 330,000 rupees for an ODI and another 275,000 for Twenty20 International match.
The Category B players will get 330,000 for a Test match and 275,000 for an ODI and Twenty20 International match.
Afridi and Malik were back in the list of contracted players after losing their contracts last year.
Afridi was excluded from the list of contracted players for the second half of 2011 as he had announced his retirement from international cricket in protest against his removal from ODI captaincy.
Malik was not given a contract since he was not cleared by the integrity committee of the Board.
As expected, Akmal and Razzaq were left out of the list of players for the new contracts and retainers since they have not been considered for the national team in recent times.
The exclusion of fast bowler Mohammad Sami was the only surprise as he made a comeback to the national team for the tour of Sri Lanka.
Sami, who impressed in the domestic season and has been picked in all three formats for the Sri Lanka tour, has not got a contract nor a retainer.
PCB Chairman Zaka Ashraf said the contract amount and match fees had been increased after a gap of three years.
"After three years we have increased the fees payable to the players which we hope will be a morale boost for them," he said in a statement.
"We have also given recognition to those players who have distinguished themselves with consistent performances in the domestic circuit. We have also recognized U-19 players in the list and this will serve as a huge encouragement for them," he added. (PTI)
Contracted Players:
Category A: Misbah-ul-Haq, Younis Khan, Umar Gul, Mohammad Hafeez, Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Rehman, Umar Akmal.
Category B: Shoaib Malik, Taufiq Umar, Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Junaid Khan, Aizaz Cheema.
Category C: Sarfaraz Ahmed, Adnan Akmal, Hammad Azam, Wahab Riaz, Imran Farhat, Faisal Iqbal, Nasir Jamshed.
Retainers: Sohail Tanvir, Khalid Latif, Sharjeel Khan, Shakil Ansar, Haris Sohail, Reza Hasan, Ahmed Shehzad, Usman Salahuddion, Ayub Dogar, Imran Khan, Bilawal Bhatti, Awais Zia, Shahzaib Hasan, Mohammad Khalil, Anwar Ali, Afaq Rahim, Bismallah Khan, Babar Azam, Sami Aslam, Zia ul Haq, Usman Qadir.
KARACHI: The pay hike announced by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in the central contracts and match fees has not been received well by many of the leading national team players. Sources were quoted as saying Monday said that captain Misbahul Haq, senior batsman Younus Khan and Twenty20 captain Mohammad Hafeez had already held discussions on the issue soon after the new central contracts and retainers were announced on Friday night. “Some of the players are not happy with the 25 percent and 10 percent hikes as they feel keeping in mind the rising inflation they deserved a better deal,” one source close to the players said.
The PCB on Friday announced the list of players who were given central contracts for the year 2012 after a delay of four months as the last contracts had expired in December last year. A source confirmed that most of the players, who left on the tour to Sri Lanka early on Monday morning, had refused to sign the contracts. “The players feel that the board should have given them more time to have the contracts vetted by their legal advisors and it is not possible for the players to sign the contracts at such short notice,” the source said.
Meanwhile, Pakistan team manager Naved Cheema said that there was no deadline set by the board for the players to sign the contracts. “The longer the players take to sign the contracts and return them back to the board their payments will be delayed,” Cheema said. Interestingly match and tour fees, central contract retainer payments and other bonus payments to the players have been held up for the last four months by the board for various reasons. The function in Lahore, held to honour the Pakistan team that won the Asia Cup in March in Bangladesh, also turned sour when Misbah, Shahid Afridi and Umar Akmal all reportedly left the function early as they were not happy with comments passed on some players by the programme host and well known writer Anwar Maqsood and later by a bunch of comedians. The players believed they were being unnecessarily ridiculed at the function and at one stage when Misbah was called on stage he told Anwar that it seemed as if the players had come to the function after losing matches and not winning matches.
The PCB on Friday announced the list of players who were given central contracts for the year 2012 after a delay of four months as the last contracts had expired in December last year. A source confirmed that most of the players, who left on the tour to Sri Lanka early on Monday morning, had refused to sign the contracts. “The players feel that the board should have given them more time to have the contracts vetted by their legal advisors and it is not possible for the players to sign the contracts at such short notice,” the source said.
Meanwhile, Pakistan team manager Naved Cheema said that there was no deadline set by the board for the players to sign the contracts. “The longer the players take to sign the contracts and return them back to the board their payments will be delayed,” Cheema said. Interestingly match and tour fees, central contract retainer payments and other bonus payments to the players have been held up for the last four months by the board for various reasons. The function in Lahore, held to honour the Pakistan team that won the Asia Cup in March in Bangladesh, also turned sour when Misbah, Shahid Afridi and Umar Akmal all reportedly left the function early as they were not happy with comments passed on some players by the programme host and well known writer Anwar Maqsood and later by a bunch of comedians. The players believed they were being unnecessarily ridiculed at the function and at one stage when Misbah was called on stage he told Anwar that it seemed as if the players had come to the function after losing matches and not winning matches.
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