Senior Pakistan players, such as Babar Azam, Shaheen Afridi, and Mohammad Rizwan, have raised objections over some of the clauses in the central contract.
The stand-off between the Pakistan Cricket Board and the leading cricketers in the country has come to an end for the moment with a condition. The likes of Azam, Afridi and Rizwan signed the contracts after negotiating changes to several clauses.
The board handed central contracts to 33 players for the 2022-23 season, splitting between white-ball and red-ball formats. The copies of the contracts were handed to the players at the start of the pre-tour camp in Lahore.
Several players in lower categories signed the contracts straight away, but to the surprise of the board, leading players, namely Azam, Afridi, Rizwan, Fakhar Zaman, Shadab Khan and Hasan Ali, asked for more time.
The players signed the contracts a week after receiving them, just before flying out for the Netherlands tour after PCB revised some of the clauses. It is understood that the players agreed to sign the contracts on the condition that they will return from the Asia Cup to continue discussions with the board over a few clauses they are unhappy about.
The group of players had objections over several clauses in the contract, including clarity around the NOC process for participation in foreign leagues, shares from ICC events participation fees and signing individual endorsements.
It led to a chain of meetings between the players themselves and with the board as well. The board and the players managed to find common ground on most of the issues, with discussions to be continued on the NOC for foreign leagues and ICC-related issues after the Asia Cup.
Historically, the PCB has written contracts unilaterally without negotiating with the players. And the players have rarely raised objections over them beyond pay rises. This pushback from the elite players in the country suggests they are aware of their brand value and could be a significant moment in players-board relations.
As for the salaries, the players will receive match fees of PKR 838,530 (approx. US$3800) for a Test, PKR 515,696 for an ODI and PKR 372,075 for a T20 international. A top Pakistan red-ball contracted player will receive PKR 1,050,000 per month, and the white-ball contracted players will earn PKR 950,000.
