Pakistan Cricket Board mulls pay hike for red-ball cricketers

[MenInG]

Pakistan's Test cricketers are expected to get a pay hike soon with the PCB aiming to stem the growing loss of interest among the young players for the red-ball format.

Pakistan chief selector Muhammad Wasim said that number of options are under consideration to to stop the trend of players shying away from Test cricket.

"It is a trend that is visible not only in Pakistan but in other cricket playing nations as well," Wasim said and added that the expansion of lucrative T20 leagues around the world had added to this problem.

Check ICC Test championship latest news, schedule and points table here

"The PCB is very keen to focus on improving our Test team and to ensure young players show more interest in red-ball cricket and financial incentives are under consideration," he said.

Wasim said that very soon the match fees and other incentives for red-ball players will be finalised soon.

He said he had been talking to players individually and the consensus was that financial incentives for red ball and white ball cricketers should be well matched.

"The argument is that there is more white ball cricket being played now compared to red-ball cricket including Tests so players who only play in red-ball formats have lesser opportunities to earn money," he noted.

The former Test batsman noted that some countries had already boosted match fees and given other incentives to their test cricketers.

Top Pakistani cricketers earn between USD 40,000 to 100,000 (equivalent to 16 million Pakistani rupees) from playing in a 20 to 25-day T20 foreign league whereas if a top player appears in three to four Tests in the same period, he earns approximately 3.5 to four million Pakistani rupees.

A source in the Pakistan board also confirmed that plans were also afoot to increase match fees and allowances of domestic cricketers who play in the first class season.


https://www.business-standard.com/a...e-for-red-ball-cricketers-121021200406_1.html

 

[Firebat]

Hopefully this can increase the incentive to play and dedicate time to red-ball cricket. We are becoming too much of a white-ball nation

 

[Rana]

Cat A players should earn approximately £500-800k a year.

 

[Pacy with wisdom]

Another sign of things moving in the right direction.

Well done "yesman" Mohammad Wasim, and "incompetent" Wasim Khan.

Compare this to the "competent" Sethi who gifted us with all these 2 test series signifying, his lack of vision and priority for test cricket.

 

[Last Monetarist]

Compare this to the "competent" Sethi who gifted us with all these 2 test series signifying, his lack of vision and priority for test cricket.

There's nothing stopping Wasim Khan and Mani from scheduling 3 or 4 match test series in the future. Thus far, there's been nothing but lip service on the primacy of test cricket from the PCB.

They were perfectly capable to have rescheduled the recent South African test tour to a 3-match series and done away with the T20s altogether.

They have also completely forgotten about the test they were supposed to play against Bangladesh.

 

[HappyWarsFan]

There's nothing stopping Wasim Khan and Mani from scheduling 3 or 4 match test series in the future. Thus far, there's been nothing but lip service on the primacy of test cricket from the PCB.

They were perfectly capable to have rescheduled the recent South African test tour to a 3-match series and done away with the T20s altogether.

They have also completely forgotten about the test they were supposed to play against Bangladesh.

No. That is because the tours were negotiated before the WTC started back in 2017-18. It was Sethi who did that. I think next cycle they'll get more tests in.

 

[ChTab]

Pakistan's Test cricketers are expected to get a pay hike soon with the PCB aiming to stem the growing loss of interest among the young players for the red-ball format.

Pakistan chief selector Muhammad Wasim said that number of options are under consideration to to stop the trend of players shying away from Test cricket.

"It is a trend that is visible not only in Pakistan but in other cricket playing nations as well," Wasim said and added that the expansion of lucrative T20 leagues around the world had added to this problem.

Check ICC Test championship latest news, schedule and points table here

"The PCB is very keen to focus on improving our Test team and to ensure young players show more interest in red-ball cricket and financial incentives are under consideration," he said.

Wasim said that very soon the match fees and other incentives for red-ball players will be finalised soon.

He said he had been talking to players individually and the consensus was that financial incentives for red ball and white ball cricketers should be well matched.

"The argument is that there is more white ball cricket being played now compared to red-ball cricket including Tests so players who only play in red-ball formats have lesser opportunities to earn money," he noted.

The former Test batsman noted that some countries had already boosted match fees and given other incentives to their test cricketers.

Top Pakistani cricketers earn between USD 40,000 to 100,000 (equivalent to 16 million Pakistani rupees) from playing in a 20 to 25-day T20 foreign league whereas if a top player appears in three to four Tests in the same period, he earns approximately 3.5 to four million Pakistani rupees.

A source in the Pakistan board also confirmed that plans were also afoot to increase match fees and allowances of domestic cricketers who play in the first class season.


https://www.business-standard.com/a...e-for-red-ball-cricketers-121021200406_1.html

They should also adopt a system like India where everyone gets an equal amount of money for participating in test matches as compared to what Pakistan currently does which is to give money on a category basis.

 

[ChTab]

There's nothing stopping Wasim Khan and Mani from scheduling 3 or 4 match test series in the future. Thus far, there's been nothing but lip service on the primacy of test cricket from the PCB.

They were perfectly capable to have rescheduled the recent South African test tour to a 3-match series and done away with the T20s altogether.

They have also completely forgotten about the test they were supposed to play against Bangladesh.

Wasim Khan has repeatedly said that they will go for 3 match test series when this current cycle ends & I don't think it's possible to reschedule a test series in WTC. Everything was agreed upon back in 2017-18, which is undoubtedly the fault of Sethi.

 

[Saj]

Lessons being learnt, especially from the Mohammad Amir episode.

 

[Kroll]

Pay them top rates becoming of elite sportsmen not mid range IT salaries from developed countries.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

Pay them top rates becoming of elite sportsmen not mid range IT salaries from developed countries.

They will pay them what they can afford. Don’t expect too much. But any improvement is a good improvement.

 

[offstump]

With that new tv deals and other streams like merchandise, social media, cricket at home etc. we are trending in the right direction. We will see match fees rise steadily. Good stuff here from Wasim and co.

 

[Last Monetarist]

Wasim Khan has repeatedly said that they will go for 3 match test series when this current cycle ends & I don't think it's possible to reschedule a test series in WTC. Everything was agreed upon back in 2017-18, which is undoubtedly the fault of Sethi.

Incorrect. The ICC doesn't stop any board from adding additional tests to a tour separate to the WTC, the fact that only 2 tests would have been part of the WTC would make no difference. It's a complete cop out from the PCB.

In any case, the current WTC cycle ends in June, Mani and Wasim Khan can easily put their money where their mouth is for the following series. I have thus far seen no indication that future series involving Pakistan will have additional test matches.

 

[Mamoon]

Incorrect. The ICC doesn't stop any board from adding additional tests to a tour separate to the WTC, the fact that only 2 tests would have been part of the WTC would make no difference. It's a complete cop out from the PCB.

In any case, the current WTC cycle ends in June, Mani and Wasim Khan can easily put their money where their mouth is for the following series. I have thus far seen no indication that future series involving Pakistan will have additional test matches.

You are correct.

Wasim is all talk and no show. If Pakistan schedules a bunch of two match series in the future, his fans will come up with a list of excuses and justifications. It is nothing new.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

You are correct.

Wasim is all talk and no show. If Pakistan schedules a bunch of two match series in the future, his fans will come up with a list of excuses and justifications. It is nothing new.

Fantastic, it’s great we have you on record saying this. I for one will be there to criticize him. But let’s flip the question.

Will you be there to praise Wasim when he schedules 3 match series or will you come up with a list of excuses and justifications for why he’s a fraudulent CEO? (Perhaps shifting the goalpost while you’re at it)

 

[Mamoon]

Fantastic, it’s great we have you on record saying this. I for one will be there to criticize him. But let’s flip the question.

Will you be there to praise Wasim when he schedules 3 match series or will you come up with a list of excuses and justifications for why he’s a fraudulent CEO? (Perhaps shifting the goalpost while you’re at it)

Well when Wasim made the blunder of appointing Misbah and Waqar, his fans defended him and said that it wasn’t his decision but rather it was Imran who made the call.

So if Pakistan starts scheduling 3 Test match series in the next cycle, I will do the same and say that it wasn’t Wasim’s decision but rather Imran who gave PCB the idea and helped them negotiate with the other boards.

Besides, would he even been there? He is always crying about the hostility and criticism he has received from the ex-players and the media, and he is yet to sign an extension. He is either looking for a swift exit or is trying to mint more money out of PCB.

 

[shamaan]

They should defonitely improve but they should take small steps increasing the pay.

 

[Kaka4pope]

Appreciate cricketing riches differ but Allastair Cook probably earned more from one annual test salary than Younis might have across his whole career. If we can get category A to decent levels - £150k per year for category A, 100k for category B and 50-75K for C - it would be a solid level.

Need to pay enough to keep the test nucleus together. As damning as the 2010 scandal was, so were the salaries (not excusing what happened).

 

[Gharib Aadmi]

Bad move. Players should be paid based on revenue they bring in. At the end of the day, if the money is coming from T-20 then those players will get paid more. If Test is not bringing in the money, then the salary should reflect that.

 

[wajid]

He is either looking for a swift exit or is trying to mint more money out of PCB.

Swift exit or mint money. You cover all bases don’t you?

I have to say that this baseless minnow mentality speculation of Pak fans is the real reason of all sorts of decline of Pakistan cricket and society and we need to get rid if it to be anywhere GOAT and ATG teams/societies.

 

[azimiqbal]

I been banging on about this for ages am
Glad there taking notice !

Be interesting to see what package they come up with

 

[gazza619]

I have a solution and everyone should thank me later.

Cricket boards should ban players from chosing to retire from formats. If you are available, you are available for formats, if you retire, you retire from all formats. Simples!

 

[gazza619]

To add on my previous suggestion, if you retire before the age of 34, you would not get NOC to play in foreign T20 leagues.

 

[Thunderbolt14]

Well when Wasim made the blunder of appointing Misbah and Waqar, his fans defended him and said that it wasn’t his decision but rather it was Imran who made the call.

So if Pakistan starts scheduling 3 Test match series in the next cycle, I will do the same and say that it wasn’t Wasim’s decision but rather Imran who gave PCB the idea and helped them negotiate with the other boards.

Besides, would he even been there? He is always crying about the hostility and criticism he has received from the ex-players and the media, and he is yet to sign an extension. He is either looking for a swift exit or is trying to mint more money out of PCB.

You’re shifting goalposts again no one cares what x fans said. Within your own coherent stream of thought, you are simultaneously saying you will criticize Wasim Khan if he continues these two match series and also that you will not praise Wasim if there are three match series now.

I will volunteer myself once more and say I will be there to both criticize and praise Wasim, depending on the outcome of the situation. Are you ready to do the same?

 

[FastBowlingAllrounder]

I have a solution and everyone should thank me later.

Cricket boards should ban players from chosing to retire from formats. If you are available, you are available for formats, if you retire, you retire from all formats. Simples!

Might be a good idea but it takes the whole white/red ball specialist out of the game. The landscape for ODIs and T20Is would change quite drastically, or we'll see a whole new breed of Test cricketers which might end up hampering the game (as players will probably put their efforts into the more lucrative white ball stuff).

 

[ElRaja]

i dont think its easy to compete with white ball salaries, or foreign board salaries.

you need to find a long term solution that is immediately not too expensive, and ive always thought pensions maybe way to go.

guarantee graduated pensions for test cricketers which improve become available when they reach 40 tests, then improve at 60, 80 and at 100 tests.

people think sportsmen are greedy, but fear of the unknown is massive, if cricketers know that they commit to a format that pay less but there future is secure, i think they would do that.

and it would also incentivise cricketers to think of having long test careers.

 

[FastBowlingAllrounder]

Need to do something other than just offer these guys pay...

 

[FastBowlingAllrounder]

i dont think its easy to compete with white ball salaries, or foreign board salaries.

you need to find a long term solution that is immediately not too expensive, and ive always thought pensions maybe way to go.

guarantee graduated pensions for test cricketers which improve become available when they reach 40 tests, then improve at 60, 80 and at 100 tests.

people think sportsmen are greedy, but fear of the unknown is massive, if cricketers know that they commit to a format that pay less but there future is secure, i think they would do that.

and it would also incentivise cricketers to think of having long test careers.

Good point but then knowledge of such security might then spark their greed and push them to cash in on extra bucks with T20 leagues and whatnot. They might look to play a certain number of Tests during their prime and then call it a day and become T20 specialists.

The underlying problem is to bring more financial prosperity to Test cricket. Whether that involves overhauling the rules of the format or improving the WTC concept to create more relevancy and market the format better is another matter but something should be done as it seems that some boards are funding their Tests with the revenue from white ball cricket just to satisfy their scheduled tours.

 

[Savak]

Start paying centrally contracted A category players well and someone agrees to play test cricket gets the maximum of $1,000,000 a year. With the new tv rights deals, the PCB can afford to take care of the best 10-15 players in the country to that level.

 

[Gharib Aadmi]

Start paying centrally contracted A category players well and someone agrees to play test cricket gets the maximum of $1,000,000 a year. With the new tv rights deals, the PCB can afford to take care of the best 10-15 players in the country to that level.

You want a Pakistan test player paid 16 crore per year??

 

[Savak]

You want a Pakistan test player paid 16 crore per year??

Do that and i gaurantee Amir will play test matches even if his body doesn't allow it.

 

[Gharib Aadmi]

Do that and i gaurantee Amir will play test matches even if his body doesn't allow it.

Sure for that kind of money who wont. Seems excessive though for Pakistan.

 

[Last Monetarist]

Bad move. Players should be paid based on revenue they bring in. At the end of the day, if the money is coming from T-20 then those players will get paid more. If Test is not bringing in the money, then the salary should reflect that.

This would be a logical argument if the remit of the PCB or any other cricket board is to maximize revenue rather than promote development of the sport and its sustainability. You would only hasten the decline of test cricket as a viable event if you don't make players' compensation equivalent or at least close to the other formats.

The short-term approach has failed cricket, in general, over the course of the last decade. The job of cricket administrators is not to increase the size of their pay pocket.

 

[Ashmal]

Incorrect. The ICC doesn't stop any board from adding additional tests to a tour separate to the WTC, the fact that only 2 tests would have been part of the WTC would make no difference. It's a complete cop out from the PCB.

In any case, the current WTC cycle ends in June, Mani and Wasim Khan can easily put their money where their mouth is for the following series. I have thus far seen no indication that future series involving Pakistan will have additional test matches.

SA were supposed to play against Aus so there was no scope to add any more tests.

Even if they had no T20s, SA wouldn't have agreed for a 3rd test (their test players had to leave early for Aus tour which only got cancelled at last moment)

The new FTP cycle begins from 2023 so we can only judge Wasim Khan and co after that.

It's tough to schedule tests outside the FTP as most boards already have packed schedule and are not keen for any extra workload for their players.

 

[Last Monetarist]

SA were supposed to play against Aus so there was no scope to add any more tests.

Even if they had no T20s, SA wouldn't have agreed for a 3rd test (their test players had to leave early for Aus tour which only got cancelled at last moment)

The new FTP cycle begins from 2023 so we can only judge Wasim Khan and co after that.

It's tough to schedule tests outside the FTP as most boards already have packed schedule and are not keen for any extra workload for their players.

You make fair points, but they had more than 6 months to finalize the schedule. The dates for the Australian tour were never finalized and the demand for extra quarantine for the South African players only came from Cricket Australia in early January when the schedule for the Pakistani tour had already been locked in. If there was a will from the PCB to get more test matches an extra test could have been scheduled even if it meant starting the tour a couple of days early.

I grant you that it is tough to schedule additional test matches because boards, especially the PCB, are keen to play the meaningless white ball matches, but then Wasim Khan or Mani shouldn't make sanctimonious noise about how they think test matches are the most important format. Their commitment to test match cricket is betrayed by how quickly they jettisoned the idea of finding a solution to schedule the abandoned test match with Bangladesh.

 

[Mamoon]

You’re shifting goalposts again no one cares what x fans said. Within your own coherent stream of thought, you are simultaneously saying you will criticize Wasim Khan if he continues these two match series and also that you will not praise Wasim if there are three match series now.

I will volunteer myself once more and say I will be there to both criticize and praise Wasim, depending on the outcome of the situation. Are you ready to do the same?

But I care what x fans said. I want to apply their own logic but at the different end of the spectrum. Why is it wrong for me and right for them?

If they can defend Wasim by insisting that the decision to employ Misbah and Waqar was Imran’s call even though there is not a shred of evidence to support that claim, I can also do the same and I wouldn’t need to provide any evidence either.

 

[Gharib Aadmi]

This would be a logical argument if the remit of the PCB or any other cricket board is to maximize revenue rather than promote development of the sport and its sustainability. You would only hasten the decline of test cricket as a viable event if you don't make players' compensation equivalent or at least close to the other formats.

The short-term approach has failed cricket, in general, over the course of the last decade. The job of cricket administrators is not to increase the size of their pay pocket.

Is test cricket not being promoted the reason for its decline in popularity? The only people who like Test cricket is people like us the die hards, who post on forums. The casual cricket fan loves T-20, and to a lesser degree ODI.

I dont mind PCB and other cricket boards subsidizing Test Cricket and FC, however if the money is coming from T-20 or ODI then those players deserve more. Its not fair for them any other way imo.