Top cricketers, including captain Babar Azam, pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi, and Mohammad Rizwan, have consented to sign the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) amended central contracts following a week of stand-off between them and the board. 

As per a report by ESPNcricinfo, the group of players signed the dotted lines prior to leaving for the Netherlands tour on the condition that they will once again hold discussion over a couple other clauses in the contract with the board post the Asia Cup in September.

The senior players have expressed hesitations about a couple of aspects of the agreements.

“These range from questions around the NOC process for participation in foreign leagues, to seeking more information about image rights in ICC events and shares from participation fees at ICC events and clauses around signing individual endorsements,”

the report said

The PCB reported 33 central contracts this season, splitting between white and red-ball players for the first time 2022-23.

According to the board’s standard practice, while copies of the contract were given to the players toward the beginning of the pre-visit camp in Lahore, a large number of the players from the lower categories had already signed the contract, however the senior stars did not sign right away.

Aside from Babar, Afridi, and Rizwan, the group also included Shadab Khan, Fakhar Zaman and Hasan Ali. The players looked for additional time as they needed to discuss the nitty-gritty of the agreements with their advisers and lawyers, considering there is no players body in the country.

Earlier, Pakistan cricketers seldom questioned any part of their central contracts signed and returned them immediately.

Historically, the Pakistan board likewise never officially negotiated with the cricketers while outlining contracts on their part.

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Subsequently, this new development could be seen as a marker of sorts in the equation between the board and the cricketers.

As indicated by the central contracts, the monthly retainer amounts and match charges were not among the points of contention. All players will get match fees of Rs. 838,530 PKR (approx. US$3800) for a Test, Rs. 515,696 PKR for an ODI (approx. US$2300) and PKR 372,075 (approx. US$1700) for a T20I.

Then again, the retainer for a top Pakistan red-ball contract is PKR 1,050,000 every month (approx. US$4700) and PKR 950,000 (approx. US$4300) for a corresponding white-ball contract.