ISLAMABAD – In a major change to the existing policy governingparticipation in T20 and other leagues across the world, Pakistan’scricketers will now be allowed to play four leagues, including the PSL, ina year.
Permission to play in other leagues is contingent on a number of factors,including taking part in the national one-day cup and the T20 cup.
The earlier policy, which was introduced in 2018, had restricted playerparticipation in several leagues, but the PCB has undertaken a review ofthe policy for the first time.
The PCB took the board of governors into confidence to approve the new NOCguidelines for all national and domestic cricketers, in a move that islikely to prove beneficial to players who had otherwise suffered majorfinancial blows in the last two years due to the inconsistency of thepolicy for featuring in foreign leagues.
Pakistan’s players are already among the lowest-paid professionalslinkinworld cricket, and aren’t allowed to take part in the IPL.
The old policy had added to the uncertainty, with players often given NOCsfor an entire tournament, only to be pulled out by the PCB midway to returnhome and either join national camps or undergo fitness tests.
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That sparked frustration and discontent among the leading white-ballcricketers and emboldened them to revolt against PCB’s restrictiveparticipation policy on foreign leagues.
A meeting of several high profile players with PCB chief executive WasimKhan link avertedthe threat of a players’ revoltlinklastyear when PCB had revoked NOCs for the T10 league in Abu Dhabi. Khan,however, promised to review the policy and arrive at a lasting amicablesolution.
ESPNcricinfo understands that henceforth, the policy to issue an NOC willbe more thorough than before, and will be based on the player’s prospectsfor national selection, fitness and fulfilling the domestic commitments.Once NOC is handed out, it won’t be revoked.
The aim is to maintain a balance between players taking part in nationaltournaments and their workload, while also ensuring that players don’t facefinancial losses during a period when they are not playing any domesticcricket, particularly for the white-ball specialists.
