KARACHI  - Pakistan's contracted players are set to get a pay boost from Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) when the new central contracts list will be announced next month for 2012, PCB chief operating officer Subham Ahmad said.
Ahmad said the increases were a result of the team's good performances over the past 12 months which include a 3-0 whitewash of world number one side England in the United Arab Emirates this year.
"A committee is finalising details but the board also agrees that pay scales in the new contracts need to be increased," he said. Pakistan players are given contracts in three separate pay allocations with the best paid getting a monthly salary of Rs250,000  while those in the remaining categories get Rs175,000 and Rs100,000.
The monthly retainers are in addition to the match fees and other bonuses paid to the players. "The new central contracts list is being finalised and accordingly we are seeing how much raises can be made keeping in mind the board's financial position. We will announce the list early next month," Ahmad said.
The PCB awarded central contracts to around 19 players for the second half of 2011. Ahmad said retainers in the contracts had remained the same for the past three years due to the financial issues faced by the board. Test-playing nations have refused to tour Pakistan because of security reasons since 2009.
Meanwhile, Seasoned Pakistan all-rounder Abdul Razzaq is set to get a new central contract despite being embroiled in a controversy over his appearance in the Bangladesh Premier League.
Reliable sources in the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) told PTI on Sunday that there were slim chances of the PCB taking any disciplinary action against Razzaq over his BPL appearance. Chief selector M Illyas had said that Razzaq had notified the selectors that he was not fit to bowl and that is why he wanted to play in the BPL instead of being considered for the national team for the ODI series against England.
But in the BPL, Razzaq has performed well not only as a batsman but also as a bowler raising questions over his commitment to Pakistan cricket. "He had informed the board his fitness was not of the standard required to play for the Pakistan team. That is why he was allowed to go and play in the BPL instead," a source said.
The source said that another reason the Board gave permission to Razzaq to play in Bangladesh was because the general opinion was that he was no longer a certain selection in the Pakistan team and his international career was more or less over. "That is the feeling in the Board but being a senior player they don't want to cause him problems. That is why in the new central contracts list prepared by the Board, Razzaq has again been given a contract," the source said.
The source confirmed that wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal was not in the new list but Shoaib Malik had also got a lifeline. "The announcement of the new central contracts will be made after the series against England. But one reason for the delay is that the Board has decided to revise the pay scales of the contracts and they have given this task to Intikhab Alam who is still calculating how much raises the players should get in their contracts," the source said.
He said once Intikhab finalises the pay scale, the list would be given to the Board Chairman for approval and announcement. But another source said that there were several players who have played for Pakistan and are still performing well in domestic cricket who will be disappointed at not getting central contracts even in the lower category.
"Fast bowler M Sami is one such player as despite brilliant performances in domestic cricket he is not in the central contracts list," the source said. He said opener Imran Farhat was also unlikely to get a new contract.