Shoaib handed central contract

The Pakistan Cricket Board has renewed the central contracts of all 17 national players for another year - and added a further three to its roster. Shoaib Akhtar is one of the players who has signed. A further 13 players have been offered retainers for a year, which will take effect from July 1. These players have been offered the contracts as it is believed they have the potential to represent Pakistan in the future.

Pakistan's top 20 cricketers were given a monthly salary of around $1,200 to $3500 under the first-ever national contracts introduced last year which expired after the team's West Indies tour earlier this month. But contracts of all unfit players or those under scrutiny for illegal bowling actions would be reviewed after six months.

Shoaib Akhtar, who missed both West Indies and Indian tours due to fitness problems also got a renewed contract, ending speculation he could be dropped from the list of contracted players. Akhtar was the last player to sign the contract after he raised certain objections over personal sponsorship.

Inzamam-ul Haq, Yousuf Youhana, Abdul Razzaq, and Akhtar were offered A-category contracts and received a monthly salary of 200,000 rupees (around $3,500). Players in the B category got 125,000 rupees (around $2,100 dollars) while players in the C category received 75,000 rupees (around $1,200) a month.

The contracted players were judged by points scored on their performance in international matches. "The committee has also decided to add some more points, like five points will be given on scoring a century in a Test or one-day match," said a spokesman. A bowler will get five points on getting five wickets in a Test or four wickets in a one-day match while a fielder will get the same number of points on taking four or more catches in a match, he added. "Achieving a world record in any form will give a player ten points while five points will be given on achieving national record in any form."

The renewed contracts start from July 10. The Pakistan team now has a lay off until late October when they host England for three Tests and five one-day games.

Players awarded central contracts
Inzamam-ul-Haq, Yousaf Youhana, Younis Khan, Abdul Razzaq, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Sami, Danish Kaneria, Kamran Akmal, Asim Kamal, Salman Butt, Naveed-ul-Hasan Rana, Yasir Hameed, Shoaib Akhtar, Arshad Khan, Shabbir Ahmad, Rao Iftikhar, Umar Gul, Bazid Khan, Imran Farhat.

Players awarded retainers
Misbah-ul-Haq, Hasan Raza, Faisal Iqbal, Muhammad Asif, Yasir Arafat, Najaf Shah, Mohammad Khalil, Shahid Nazir, Mohammad Irshad, Imran Tahir, Zulqarnain Haider, Asher Zaidi, Taufeeq Umar.