Pakistan board to increase players' pay

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is planning to revamp first-class cricket in Pakistan, and to generate more funds for their players. According to The News, Shaharyar Khan and Rameez Raja, the men in charge of the PCB, made a presentation before their advisory council in which they proposed an overhaul of the domestic game. They said that the new system would ensure that the top 50 players in the game would earn an annual salary in the region of Pakistani Rs 500,000 (approx. US$8500).

In the context of what Pakistan's players earn currently, this is a significant step. The highest-paid current Pakistan cricketer is reputed to be Yousuf Youhana, who makes around Rs 350,000 (approx. US$6000). Many of Pakistan's international cricketers do not play domestic cricket purely because it is not lucrative enough, and Rameez said that he hoped to change that with the new system.

Rameez also clarified that the banks and organisations that currently play in Pakistan's first-class tournaments will not be affected. "Even the National Bank President," he said, "who is on the Advisory Council, said [that] while he supports organisational cricket, the support of cricket teams and players in organisations and banks these days depended on individuals at the top and there is no clear-cut direction on maintaining cricket teams.

"We are preparing an outstanding module on regional cricket and we are looking at signing on around 50 top players for the season to play regional cricket while those outside this list would get match fees. I can promise you that these players would make more [money] than they are making right now from organisations."

Rameez said that the PCB had already had talks with several broadcasters, including Pakistan Television (PTV) and a foreign network, on the subject of television rights, especially for the Twenty20 tournament.

Rameez and Shaharyar will present a detailed version of their report to the council on June 16.