In Bahawalpur, Pakistan, on Monday, Zaka Ashraf, the head of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), indicated a new policy regarding Pakistan cricketers' participation in franchise leagues, apart from the Pakistan Super League (PSL), as reported by ARY News. He acknowledged that Pakistan cricketers had been increasingly participating in various franchise leagues worldwide due to what he described as relatively low earnings.
Zaka Ashraf expressed his concern over the limited financial rewards for Pakistani cricketers and stated that the PCB was contemplating increasing their payments to make central contracts more appealing to the players.
The PCB had recently introduced central contracts for a three-year period, with significant improvements in monthly retainers and match fees across all four categories. Notably, 30 cricketers were set to receive substantial contracts, which would also include a share of the ICC revenue. Unlike the previous year, the national contracts for both red-ball and white-ball cricket had been consolidated into a single contract.
These players were categorized into four groups, each with varying increases in monthly retainers: Category A (3 players) at 202%, Category B (7 players) at 144%, Category C (4 players) at 135%, and Category D (16 players) at 127%. Furthermore, there would be a substantial increase in players' match fees, with a 50% increment for Test matches, 25% for ODIs, and 12.5% for T20Is. Additionally, centrally contracted players engaged in domestic cricket would receive 50% of the international match fee.