Pakistan players demand contract review

Pakistan's cricketers have reportedly demanded a pay rise ahead of their tour of England, expressing unhappiness with the current level of retainer fees on offer and the restrictions imposed by the contracts they have signed.

A report indicated that the players will ask the Pakistan board to double their retainer fees or release them from their existing contracts, and it is thought that this request has already been verbally passed to the chairman of the board, Shaharyar Khan.

"With the World Cup just nine months away, we are receiving several lucrative offers but we cannot sign them because we are tied up with the cricket board," an unnamed player in the Pakistan team told PTI. "We are not trying to blackmail the PCB, but simply want that we get a pay-rise when the contracts are offered next month."

However, according to Abbas Zaidi, PCB director, nothing is likely to happen until the current central contracts expire in June, when they will be reviewed. Speaking to Cricinfo, Zaidi refused to confirm whether such a request had been made by the players but reiterated that nothing can be done till June.

"Nothing can happen until June when the contracts expire. Once they have done, then we will - as every year - review the entire system. Maybe we need to drop some players, include others. But even the review doesn't necessarily mean a revision of pay scales. If we feel it is due, we will give it to them, if not we won't," he explained, before adding, "I am not aware of any such requests, they might have been made in person but the reports are neither here nor there because nothing can happen until June."

Under the existing central contracts, cricketers contracted under Category-A get a monthly retainer fees of Rs200,000 ($3,333) while those in Category-B are paid Rs125,000 ($2,083) and players belonging to Category-C get Rs75,000 ($1,250).

The players, according to PTI, point out that the PCB's deal with Pepsi Cola, long-standing team sponsor currently due to remain until 2009, means that each player receives Rs1.4 million a year ($23,300) for displaying the company's logo, while the board earns more than a million dollars.