The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is expected to face tougher negotiations with players over the new central contracts which will be announced in a month’s time.
The previous central contracts handed to players are set to expire in June.
Reportedly, the general practice is that players eligible for central contracts are handed the document, which can be hundreds of pages full of legal vocabulary, for signature with no consultation from outside lawyers allowed.
Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan and Shaheen Afridi bucked that trend last year, asking for a detailed review of their contracts before signing. The rest of the team is expected to follow suit before agreeing to their deals this time around.
It is expected that the whole squad will work in unison to secure a better deal for themselves.
Among the newer demands from the players is the inclusion of Health insurance and education policies in order to protect themselves in case of a career-ending injury. The players will reportedly ask for softer penalties handed out for the Code of Conduct violations with the harshest penalties reserved for the most serious breaches of rules.
The players are also seeking a share of the profits from the ICC events and a better share from PCB’s commercial deals with various brands.
It remains to be seen what demands PCB agrees to in the new central contracts.
If the team goes through with their plan, it will be the first time a legitimate dialogue between the players and the board will be needed to sort out the contracts.
