Pak cricketers will have to sign tour contracts to play for country

Karachi, Jun 8 (ANI): The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has made it clear that even if a player does not sign the central contract offered to him, he still has to sign a tour contract before each series in order to play for the national team.

A senior PCB official was quoted as saying that any player who didn't sign the central contract offered to him would have to forgo the monthly retainer offered to him plus the full year medical insurance coverage provided to him under the contract.

"If a player doesn't sign the central contract offered to him he will not get the monthly retainer plus he will be paid match fees in the category C while he will only be medically insured for a particular tour and not for the whole year as is the policy of the board," the official said.

"No player can be considered to play for the national team unless he signs a central contract or tour contract," The Daily Times quoted the PCB official, as saying.

Media reports have said that some of the senior players led by captain Misbahul Haq were not happy with some of the stringent clauses in the new central contracts offered to them and also with the pay hike given to them by the board. These players had also asked the board to review the clauses.

The official admitted that the players had asked the board to extend the deadline for signing the contracts when it was offered to them around May 26.

"The players contention was that since the contracts were offered to them just prior to leaving for Sri Lanka they wanted more time to study the contracts," the official said.

The official also confirmed that the PCB was still waiting for captain, Misbahul Haq, Shahid Afridi, Younis Khan and Mohammad Hafeez to sign the category A central contracts offered to them. (ANI)