Shoaib stalls on signing central contract

PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan announces the introduction of central contracts © Getty Images

Pakistan's leading players have agreed contracts with the board which will earn them between US$1500 and US$3500 a month - but Shoaib Akhtar has yet to sign after raising objections to some elements of the contract.

The leading players at the top of the range include Inzamam-ul-Haq, Yousuf Youhana and Abdul Razzaq. The PCB has offered players central contracts which cover a seven-month period ending in June 2005, including tours to Australia, India and West Indies.

Akhtar's concerns appear to centre on restrictions the deal would put on his personal endorsements. "The PCB has put a clause in Akhtar's contract that whenever he signed a private endorsement he would need PCB's permission which stopped him from signing the contract," a source close to the board admitted. There are reports in the local media that Akhtar was not included in the top bracket until he complained to the board.

Shoaib Akhtar: stalling on signing central contract © Getty Images

Shoaib has widespread commercial interests. He only recently returned from a business trip to India, and earlier this month he signed a lucrative contract to play for Worcestershire in England.

"Shoaib has not signed the contract as yet," Mushtaq Ahmed, the PCB's general manager of finance, told Reuters. "He said he wanted the document to be vetted by his legal adviser." Even if the matter is not resolved easily, Shoaib will travel with the squad when they leave for Australia.

The board's announcement means that Pakistan now fall in line with all the major Test-playing countries which all had existing central contracts.