Anam, Omaima get central contracts; Bismah, Javeria promoted

KARACHI: Left-arm spinner Anam Amin and middle-order batter Omaima Sohail are the new entries in the performance-based Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) women’s central contract list for 2020-21, which will come into effect from July 1.

Bismah Maroof, Javeria Khan and Diana Baig are the three players to get promotions on the back of their international performances in the 2019-20 season.

The nine central contracts see an increase of 33 per cent in the monthly retainers of the Category A players, while players in Category B and C will receive 30 and 25 per cent rise, respectively.

The PCB has also introduced emerging contract list. The nine-player list includes 16-year-old Syeda Aroob Shah, 15-year-old Ayesha Naseem (who made her Pakistan debut in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup this year), 22-year-old Muneeba Ali Siddiqui, Fatima Sana, Kainat Hafeez, Najiha Alvi, Rameen Shamim, Saba Nazir and Sadia Iqbal (who won player-of-the-match award on her T20I debut against Bangladesh in October).

In a significant boost for the domestic cricketers, the match fee and event prize money have been increased by 100 per cent, while daily allowances have been increased by 50 per cent.

Meanwhile, the board has decided to retain Bismah as captain till the end of the 2020-21 season. However, it has also been decided not to renew the contract of head coach Iqbal Imam who will now resume his duties in the high performance set-up. Women’s central contract list 2020-21: Category A – Bismah Maroof and Javeria Khan; Category B – Aliya Riaz, Diana Baig and Sidra Nawaz; Category C – Anam Amin, Nahida Khan, Nida Dar and Omaima Sohail; Emerging – Ayesha Naseem, Fatima Sana, Kainat Hafeez, Muneeba Ali Siddiqui, Najiha Alvi, Rameen Shamim, Saba Nazir, Sadia Iqbal and Syeda Aroob Shah.

The team is scheduled to feature in the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier and the ACC Women’s T20 Cup in the next 12 months, while an U19 team will feature in the inaugural ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup.

Urooj Mumtaz, chair of the national women’s selection committee, while announcing the central contracts said: “On behalf of the selection committee, I would like to congratulate all the players who have received the central contracts.

“The selection committee had detailed deliberations prior to announcing the central contracts. International performances over the past 12 months, fitness standards and the players’ ability to contribute in both white ball formats were key measures that formed the criteria for the selection.”

“Bismah and Javeria have been promoted to Category A, following leading performances with the bat in the last year. Over the last one year, Bismah scored 213 runs at an average of 42.60 in five ODIs and 236 at 39.33 in T20Is, while Javeria was the highest run-getter for Pakistan in T20Is with 260 runs including three half-centuries.”