Domestic contracts with increased incentive announced

LAHORE: The Pakistan Circlet Board (PCB) has given contract to domestic cricketers with increased incentives.

The announcement was made by the newly-elected PCB chairman Ramiz Raja in a press conference here after he assumed office on Monday. “We need to fine-tune our plans. Pakistan cricket’s DNA consists of fearlessness, and we need to define a proper model and provide clarity to achieve desired results,” said Ramiz.

He said that 192 cricketers with domestic contracts would see an increase of Rs100,000 in monthly retainers across all rungs. This means that domestic men’s cricketers in the 2021-22 season, which begins with the Cricket Associations T20, the Second XI competition, from September 15 at the Quetta’s Bugti Stadium, will now earn between Rs140,000 and Rs250,000 per month, an increase of 250 percent for the players in the D category, the lowest category.

“It is our duty to take care of our cricketers and continue to take measures which strengthen our system,” Ramiz said. “This will also play a role in ending any uncertainty surrounding the current cricket structure,” he added.

Ramiz announced plans to launch an U19 T20 league. “This will help the HBL Pakistan Super League franchises as well, who are on the lookout for youngsters. I would like the former greats to coach them. We need to give push to the age-group cricketers so they can excel in the sport from the early age,” he added.

Ramiz also said that it was important to improve the quality of pitches at the grassroots level. Besides, he said high performance centres would be established in interior Sindh and Balochistan.