PCB clears Pakistan players` dues

Karachi: The Pakistan Cricket Board has finally cleared outstanding dues of the national team players and also assured them of no delays in future payments of match fees, bonuses or monthly retainers.

Sources in the board said that the players were paid their outstanding dues until the start of the tour to Sri Lanka which had been pending for the last few months. The payments were cleared on the instructions of the Chairman of the board, Zaka Ashraf, who had received complaints from some senior players that there was undue delay in clearance of payments after each tournament or series since the start of the year. The players conveyed their concerns to Ashraf after some of them had delayed signing the new central contracts offered to them in which the board announced a 25 percent increase in their monthly retainers and a 10 percent hike in match fees. Players in the A category of the central contracts are now paid monthly retainer of 313,000 rupees while those in B and C categories get 218,000 and 125,000. Similarly after the increase in match fees the A category players are now paid a Test match fee of 385,000 rupees, 330,000 for an ODI and 275,000 for a T20 match. Those in category B are paid 330,000 for a Test, 275,000 for an ODI and 220,000 for a T20 match. Those in category C are paid respectively 275,000, 220,000 and 165,000 rupees. The categories and slab system for payment of match fees is set according to the number of matches played by the player. Players had started getting delayed payments during the tenure of former Chairman, Ijaz Butt who had to deal with a financial crunch in the board following the refusal of Test teams to tour Pakistan since 2009 due to security concerns. "It was after Ashraf spoke to the captain and some senior players who were in Sri Lanka and told them that if they delayed further they would lose many benefits and perks from the board that they signed up," a source said. PTI