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Pakistani First-Class Cricketers' Salaries

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Saj

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I often get asked this question and to be honest I've not really paid much attention to this but I made some enquiries about salaries for the ongoing Presidents Trophy which of course is made up of only departmental teams.

So we are talking about the top level first class cricketers and the departments that pay their players well in Pakistan.

The average monthly salary for the players works out to be around 40,000 pakistani rupees which equates to about £260 per month.

I know folk will say about the cost of living etc. but compare that to first class cricketers around the world !
 
How did you ask a player about his salary? How dodgy would that be... :p

You must be brave.. :p

Sent from my GT-I9300 with Tapatalk 2
 
For living in pakistan not too bad, considering u collect more benefits as u become experienced .
 
AZ said:
+ match fees and perhaps kit sponsorships, may go close to 80k-1 lakh?

that is quite a big salary.
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AZ quite a few now don't get match fees as such.

Most of the departments are reportedly just paying the players a monthly fixed salary, rather than additions on top of the salary.

Of course it all depends on the grade/experience of the player.
 
Keep in mind that these guys only ears 40,000 for their 10-15 year career.

Saj bhai is the corporation system still in place? - ie. when a player retires the corporation he plays for gives him a job to set him up for life?
 
This is the average salary so there are a lot of players earning a lot less as well.
 
@Looney, I see.

40,000 rupees per month and then the match fee (they at least get some match fee) per month is not that bad.
 
AZ said:
+ match fees and perhaps kit sponsorships, may go close to 80k-1 lakh?

that is quite a big salary.
Click to expand...

Az good t see you back broo.

And to the topic 40,000rp does not sound as bad as it is.

Imagine a middle age cricketer who wont ever play for pak?

His children school fees.
Car/fuel
Rent
Food.
TAX :zardari

Very less if you have only 1 person earning.
 
Saj said:
AZ quite a few now don't get match fees as such.

Most of the departments are reportedly just paying the players a monthly fixed salary, rather than additions on top of the salary.

Of course it all depends on the grade/experience of the player.
Click to expand...
Good info, and honestly, this is quite good!

So, 40,000 a month is for mid-level to senior level players? OR for junior players too?
 
AZ said:
+ match fees and perhaps kit sponsorships, may go close to 80k-1 lakh?

that is quite a big salary.
Click to expand...

There is no match fee when u are a contracted player or get a permanent job in these departments. You only get your monthly income. There is not kit sponsorship fee to be provided to the player.s.
 
Saj said:
AZ quite a few now don't get match fees as such.

Most of the departments are reportedly just paying the players a monthly fixed salary, rather than additions on top of the salary.

Of course it all depends on the grade/experience of the player.
Click to expand...

All departments are doing this. I can definitely confirm this.
 
Honestly in my opinion, it is quite low. You can compare it with the other countries as well.
 
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Our Cricket players are among the lowest paid in the world, our national team players do not earn as much compared to international players world wide let alone talking about our domestic players.
 
I don't see this changing until the economic conditions improve in the country.
 
Thats not that bad a salary all year round for essentially few months work. They pobablly have second jobs on top of this.
 
tbh its quite low!!! we need a competitive FC system that pays double that atleast
 
this is very sad, and it's one of the reasons why we're struggling to improve our cricket. we make about 2 lakhs a month just from crops and milk...
 
40000 is not good but decent , I would say . This is considering they start earning from a young age , compare that with doctors , engineers , accountants who spend a lot of time and money to get degrees .
 
Savak said:
Our Cricket players are among the lowest paid in the world, our national team players do not earn as much compared to international players world wide let alone talking about our domestic players.
Click to expand...

Hence those types of controversys
 
I remember ex pro telling me in 2005 that monthly net pay is around £150. That club I played for paid our pro £100 a week for sunday game and he played saturday for someone else. No wonder most dont want to go back due to low salary
 
If that's their primary income, then it's a pretty poor salary even taking into consideration the cost of living.
 
That is not much for FC level Cricketers. It would be around 20k Indian rupees and you can't support your family with that much.
 
Rs. 40k isnt bad really but its not great either. I guess you could look at it as a clerk's salary without doing the clerk' work. Plus they get to play the sport they love.
 
samplepiece said:
Rs. 40k isnt bad really but its not great either. I guess you could look at it as a clerk's salary without doing the clerk' work. Plus they get to play the sport they love.
Click to expand...

It's a unique skill though, anyone can learn to be a clerk, but not everyone can learn to be a cricketer.

In SA unskilled labourers such as miners get around R10,000 pm + benefits (housing, medical aid etc.). That equates to about US$1,200 + benefits at the current exchange rate.
 
This came out in 2011 but might still might be the same:

"In less than 15 years time, the match fees of an Indian first-class cricketer have increased by about 800 times. The fees for turning out in a Ranji Trophy encounter used to be about Rs. 450 a day in the 90s and now stands at Rs. 35,000 a day."

35,000 a day means if a cricketer plays a 4 day game, he earns 1 lakh 40. Which is pretty high.
 
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X-factor said:
whats the average in India and others? need to put this in perspective
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A couple of guys (who play in the state team but not regulars) i know make in the region of 15 lakh/year. If you are state regular i think u can expect 30Lakh minimum.
 
Jo_Don said:
It's a unique skill though, anyone can learn to be a clerk, but not everyone can learn to be a cricketer.

In SA unskilled labourers such as miners get around R10,000 pm + benefits (housing, medical aid etc.). That equates to about US$1,200 + benefits at the current exchange rate.
Click to expand...


Do these miners work in the diamond mines? Thats a pretty decent pay for miners. In our part of the world, miners have the worst deal - bad pay and dangerous job.

So in summary, FC cricketers in Pakistan earn roughly $800 a months and miners in RSA earn $1200+!
 
samplepiece said:
Do these miners work in the diamond mines? Thats a pretty decent pay for miners. In our part of the world, miners have the worst deal - bad pay and dangerous job.

So in summary, FC cricketers in Pakistan earn roughly $800 a months and miners in RSA earn $1200+!
Click to expand...

Depends on the company. That's about the average. At some of the platinum mines they get more, and at others they may get a little less
 
what on earth, that is peanuts you can get paid more working in ASDA or tesco (eventhough its not a valid example to this scenario but still) and these poor guys have to support their families which tend to be quiet huge, disgraceful stuff from the PCB shame on them, but this has been happening for ages now don't see an improvement anytime in the near future
 
disgraceful. If theres one organisation that can pay its cricketers well its the PCB. The PCB should subsidise some of these wages or remove the department ssytem alltogether!!

I agree an end to the war on terror will help our cricketers...
 
while many are saying its a decent income, people should remember that they are earning for only 10-15 years so what will happen to these players when they retire, who will look after them?
 
If i remember correctly BCCI said that even if a player plays half the teams games in a domestic season,he will make around rs 15 lakhs INR.Thats about USD 29000.
 
1. Players are expected to devote their best year for this skill only. You're talking about working hard on cricket from the age of 14-30.

2. You can't really try for something else.

3. Your future pretty much depends on this. Once you're out of cricket, you can go for business or something, but lack of skills means you can't really think of stable source of income.

Those who are saying that 40,000 is decent, they are comparing it average salary of a person of that age. Sure for a 20-24 year old person, it may be decent salary. But since you can use this skill for 10 years or so only then this looks really low. There will be probably 100 FC cricketers in the country. When you look it as salary of top 100 professionals, then it might seem even lesser.
 
giri26 said:
This came out in 2011 but might still might be the same:

"In less than 15 years time, the match fees of an Indian first-class cricketer have increased by about 800 times. The fees for turning out in a Ranji Trophy encounter used to be about Rs. 450 a day in the 90s and now stands at Rs. 35,000 a day."

35,000 a day means if a cricketer plays a 4 day game, he earns 1 lakh 40. Which is pretty high.
Click to expand...

wow...super pay by indian board...excellent
 
Considering the economic and security situation,international cricket activity and all of this turmoil not that bad...financial welfare is relative to general condition of economy and many aspects of a country as a whole..
 
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winner of indian first class championship gets prize money of 2crore indian rupees,that is approx 200000$...indeed very high...
 
shaz619 said:
what on earth, that is peanuts you can get paid more working in ASDA or tesco (eventhough its not a valid example to this scenario but still) and these poor guys have to support their families which tend to be quiet huge, disgraceful stuff from the PCB shame on them, but this has been happening for ages now don't see an improvement anytime in the near future
Click to expand...

You can't compare wages of two completely different countries. I believe the wage of an established FC player in England is about £30,000 a year which is much more than a similar Pakistani player would earn. However the costs of living are much higher so it is hard to compare.

The best way is to look at the opportunity cost of these players. That involves comparing how much a player is from playing cricket in comparison to how much the average person of their age with a "normal" job earns.

And for all those talking about how their careers are only 10-15 years. Playing FC cricket regardless of where in the world you are playing is never going to give you the money to retire and never work again. You can only ever get that luxury if you play international cricket.
 
aneeq7 said:
How did you ask a player about his salary? How dodgy would that be... :p

You must be brave.. :p
Click to expand...

I talk to the players about plenty of things and last time I checked I didn't need your permission to speak with them about stuff ;)
 
Very very low considering that players only play till 35 ish. Didnt the pakistani rupee drop in value as well.
 
Saj, do you have any idea of how PCB spends their money? I mean what share is given for players' salaries, infrastructure etc.
 
Apart from Indian domestic cricket, actually it's not bad. You have to compare the Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) index of the first world countries & I don't think $250/month is that bad compered to PPP of UK or Australia. Also, I think still PAK FC cricketers are highest earning domestic sportsman in the country, imagine compared to County or Shefield Shield cricketer, what the Footballers, Golfers, Tennis players, boxers, Rugbey or Aussie rules players earns.

Moreover, these players play lot of club cricket all over the world & some of them should have some sort of endorsement contracts. & I think, the corporate players (PIA, Habib Bank etc.) are given a official designation & salary as well (I believe S Butt was a VP in NBL, drawing at least $25,000 annually, for doing nothing in bank operation). One problem is, I don't know if there is any retainer-ship or year long payment scheme, Health care benefit for the players. Also, I think the payment structure should be in 2 slots, monthly fixed salary + match fees. PCB can introduce a minimum payment slab for every FC players.
 
Apart from Indian domestic cricket, actually it's not bad. You have to compare the Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) index of the first world countries & I don't think $250/month is that bad compered to PPP of UK or Australia. Also, I think still PAK FC cricketers are highest earning domestic sportsman in the country, imagine compared to County or Shefield Shield cricketer, what the Footballers, Golfers, Tennis players, boxers, Rugbey or Aussie rules players earns.

Moreover, these players play lot of club cricket all over the world & some of them should have some sort of endorsement contracts. & I think, the corporate players (PIA, Habib Bank etc.) are given a official designation & salary as well (I believe S Butt was a VP in NBL, drawing at least $25,000 annually, for doing nothing in bank operation). One problem is, I don't know if there is any retainer-ship or year long payment scheme, Health care benefit for the players. Also, I think the payment structure should be in 2 slots, monthly fixed salary + match fees. PCB can introduce a minimum payment slab for every FC players.
 
40k is very tough living in Pak.
 
Its way too low.
Low salaries are the biggest reason for players falling easy victim to match -fixing and other greedy offers.
 
anakin said:
Its way too low.
Low salaries are the biggest reason for players falling easy victim to match -fixing and other greedy offers.
Click to expand...

thats a very interesting comment. I think that much amount is too low. Someone who earns that much probably wont be able to support their children in good schools, have decent food, buy quality clothes or even buy a car.

and thats for those who are among the top 100 FC players, while excluding those who play in foreign tournament and/or in the intl arena.

Cricket needs more $$$
 
It should be compared relatively with countries having similar Per capita income.

Suppose if PCI of Pakistan & x country is same, then we may compare the domestic salaries of players of those countries with that of Pakistan. Only then the real picture shall emerge.


P.S:- In a country where most establishments are under Military, I am not amused at what's 'left' for other's to have. Just my 2 cents worth
 
style_guru said:
It should be compared relatively with countries having similar Per capita income.

Suppose if PCI of Pakistan & x country is same, then we may compare the domestic salaries of players of those countries with that of Pakistan. Only then the real picture shall emerge.


P.S:- In a country where most establishments are under Military, I am not amused at what's 'left' for other's to have. Just my 2 cents worth
Click to expand...

X= India!!
now compare :D
 
Just as a student in Delhi, I ended up spending 15-18K INR per month.. that was with very modest lifestyle.
Really poor pay considering most of the players have family and other responsibilities. Should be the same for Indian domestic players too. The gulf between international and domestic setup is huge when it comes to money.
 
Executioner said:
thats a very interesting comment. I think that much amount is too low. Someone who earns that much probably wont be able to support their children in good schools, have decent food, buy quality clothes or even buy a car.

and thats for those who are among the top 100 FC players, while excluding those who play in foreign tournament and/or in the intl arena.

Cricket needs more $$$
Click to expand...

Exactly, its all about risk, a person gets offered 5 yr worth income for just one day of fixing, it would be too tempting.

Reduce the lure of extra money, boards should share a good part of their earnings as salaries to cricketers. If then a person fixes, then we can talk about morality and ethical of fixing.

BCCI has learnt this the hardway in 2000, PCB should learn from others.
 
so in that consideration these premiere leagues arent bad for cricket because domestic cricketers are well paid. The more the money, the more the interest in becoming a cricket = better cricket
 
Executioner said:
so in that consideration these premiere leagues arent bad for cricket because domestic cricketers are well paid. The more the money, the more the interest in becoming a cricket = better cricket
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For cricket yes! It makes being a cricketer an attractive job and would attract far more markets. Just look at football.

but keep in mind that, it would be at the expense of intn'l cricket.
 
Found this on the net (not confirmed)

Other fun facts: the BCCI shares 26 percent of its profits with players (13 for international; 10.5 for senior domestic players, and 2.5 for juniors). International match fees have increased from 2.5 lakhs for Tests to 7 lakh rupees now.

(These are just match fees; most players also get tons of endorsements. As the article says: “Every Team India player is a millionaire…”)
Click to expand...

Definitely a good gesture to keep your players happy.

http://duckingbeamers.com/2011/12/31/how-much-indian-cricketers-are-paid/
 
AFAIK players in IND domestic get around 2500 US $ per month on an average from match fees from BCCI. I suppose they must be getting other income too like sponsorship deals+ winning bonus+ fixed monthly wage+ salary from their employers (SEBI/ SAIL/ GAIL/.....)
 
AlizeeFan said:
Saj, do you have any idea of how PCB spends their money? I mean what share is given for players' salaries, infrastructure etc.
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At the moment they don't have any money to spend :)
 
AamchiMumbaikar said:
AFAIK players in IND domestic get around 2500 US $ per month on an average from match fees from BCCI. I suppose they must be getting other income too like sponsorship deals+ winning bonus+ fixed monthly wage+ salary from their employers (SEBI/ SAIL/ GAIL/.....)
Click to expand...

Also don't forget that domestic players get pension after they retire.. ranging from $200-$300 per month based on number of matches played - these are ofcourse 2006 figures so they must have increased now after IPL windfall..

http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/story/245707.html
 
Saj said:
At the moment they don't have any money to spend :)
Click to expand...

Also, what happened to PPL? Pakistan needs to invest in this kind of league for the sake of bringing back top cricket in Pakistan
 
To add more.

Regional players (non departmental) get six months contract with PCB and they get salaries in three categories. 10K, 15K and 20K
In addition to that, they get 7K match fees per FC game.
40K mentioned by SAJ is an average salary, some players are getting salaries more than 100,000 but they are international Cricketers.
There were players who were playing Grade 2 for a department and then played grade 1 for regions... and made handsome money.
 
Executioner said:
Also, what happened to PPL? Pakistan needs to invest in this kind of league for the sake of bringing back top cricket in Pakistan
Click to expand...

Good question but at least we have Faysal Bank T20 tournaments . :ajmal
 
Faizan Lakhani said:
To add more.

Regional players (non departmental) get six months contract with PCB and they get salaries in three categories. 10K, 15K and 20K
In addition to that, they get 7K match fees per FC game.
40K mentioned by SAJ is an average salary, some players are getting salaries more than 100,000 but they are international Cricketers.
There were players who were playing Grade 2 for a department and then played grade 1 for regions... and made handsome money.
Click to expand...

PCB just announced that regional contracts last year. But haven't handed it yet. So it's stupidity to include it in their income.

They only get 10k for one FC game. 2500 per day? Ridiculous in my opinion.
 
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And then they blame the cricketers for not performing !! We need to improve our FC structures. You need atleast 100,000 rupees for living a decent life in pakistan !!!!
Pakistan should start a league like ipl and pay the cricketers more ! In 40,000 what are they going to eat , grass or what :ahmed
 
So they are definitely earning more than a graduate from an average university :13:
 
Pakistani Rupees ?? So that should be like 25K Indian rupee at max which is basically nothing. Even their nutrition requirements should cost this much per month.
Unless PCB pays extra for all that, this really is a poor pay.
 
Many first class cricketers come to UK to play league cricket and get a few thousand pounds for that depending on their contract. It is more than what they make per annum in pak first class...so it keeps them going as well as improves their experience....
 
The average contracted first class cricketer over here would earn maybe 70-80k Australian a year.

Just above average full time wage for everywhere bar WA and Canberra.
 
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