PCB mulling increasing pay of Pakistan Test cricketers to prevent players from losing interest in format

Karachi: 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 Mohammad 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. “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. [caption id=“attachment_8416951” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] 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 US$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.