LAHORE - Some of the senior players have refused to sign the central contracts announced by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and as they are not happy with the 25 per cent salary hike and 10 per cent increase in the match fee, it has been learnt reliably on Wednesday.
According to the sources, the players feel that keeping in mind the rising inflation, the increase is insufficient and should be raised according to the economic situation. Only two players Shahid Khan Afridi and Shoaib Malik have accepted and signed their contracts so far.
“Some of the senior players are not happy with the 25 per cent and 10 per cent increase in the monthly salary and match fees as they feel keeping in mind the rising inflation they deserve a better deal,” one source close to the players said.
“The players are also grumbling that the board took three years to give a pay raise and even now it is not enough for them,” one source said. Sources revealed that captain Misbah-ul-Haq, senior batsman Younus Khan and new Twenty20 skipper M Hafeez had already held discussions on the issue soon after the new central contracts and retainers were announced.
The PCB announced the list of players who have been given central contracts for the year 2012 after a delay of four months as the last contracts had expired in December last year. One reliable source confirmed that most of the players who are leaving on the tour to Sri Lanka early Monday morning have refused to sign the contracts.
“The players feel that the board should have given them more time to have the contracts vetted by their legal advisors and it is not possible for the players to sign the contracts at such short notice,” the source said.
Pakistan team manager, Naved Cheema said that there was no deadline set by the board for the players to sign the contracts. “The longer the players take to sign the contracts and return them back to the board their payments will be delayed,” Cheema said.
Interestingly match and tour fees, central contract retainer payments and other bonus payments to the players have been held up for more than four months by the board for various reasons.
The players believed that they were being unnecessarily ridiculed at the function and at one stage when Misbah was called on stage he told Anwar Maqsood that it seemed as if the players had come to the function after losing matches and not winning matches. Misbah, Afridi and Umar Akmal left the function before its conclusion to record their protest.