The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced details of the 2022-23 domestic contracts with a substantial increase in retainers across all categories.
The new contracts, approved by the Board of Governors (BoG) at its 70th meeting, will run from September 2022 to August 2023.
Under the new terms, the match fee of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy has been increased from Rs. 60,000 to Rs. 100,000, while the match fee for the Pakistan Cup and the National T20 has been raised from Rs. 40,000 to Rs. 60,000, respectively. The non-playing members of the red and white-ball matches will now receive Rs. 40,000 (up by Rs. 16,000) and Rs. 20,000 (up by Rs. 4,000).
Likewise, the match fee of the non-first-class four-day Cricket Associations Championship has been increased from Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 40,000, whereas the white-ball Cricket Associations Challenge and CA T20 match fee has been enhanced from Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 25,000. The non-playing members of the red and white-ball matches will receive Rs. 15,000 and Rs. 10,000, respectively.
PCB Director High-Performance Nadeem Khan said in a statement, “Domestic cricket is the backbone of Pakistan cricket and we need to continue to invest in it to make it a stronger and more attractive brand.”
He added, “Already, the standard and quality of our domestic cricket, as acknowledged by our elite cricketers, has become challenging and competitive. This is following merit-based selections, quality playing facilities, excellent logistical arrangements, high-quality broadcast, and extensive digital media coverage. I am sure these new financial incentives will take our domestic cricket forward and assist the PCB in further reducing the gap with international cricket.
“The retainers and match fees have been increased to motivate and inspire cricketers to work harder round the year to maintain the required and expected levels of fitness and form, which forms the basis of retaining places in the contract list. Besides, the new incentives will also encourage them to give preference to our tournament over foreign leagues. Needless to remind everyone, PCB domestic events are a pathway to selection in the national side,” Khan added.
| PCB Monthly Retainers | |||
| Category | Players | Retainer | Increase |
| A+ | 15 | Rs. 300,000 | Rs. 50,000 |
| A | 35 | Rs. 200,000 | Rs. 15,000 |
| B | 48 | Rs. 185,000 | Rs. 10,000 |
| C | 70 | Rs. 170,000 | Rs. 5,000 |
| D | 24 | Rs. 150,000 | Rs. 10,000 |
The overall impact following these latest increases in retainers and match fees is that Category A+ and Category D players can now potentially earn as much as Rs. 6.1 million and Rs. 4.3 million respectively. However, to make these earnings, the players will have to maintain the expected fitness levels and perform consistently so that they can feature in all league matches of the National T20, Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, and Pakistan Cup.
These are projected numbers and have been calculated on the basis of 30 league matches being played across the three major PCB events without adding the impact of any prize money. The total prize money of the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy is Rs. 17 million with the winner receiving Rs. 10 million, the champion of the Pakistan Cup will earn Rs. 5 million from a total purse of Rs. 9.3 million and the winner of the National T20 will get richer by Rs. 5 million from a total pool of Rs. 8.7 million.
Similarly, players participating in the second division CA Championship (four-day non-first-class), CA Challenge (50-over), and CA T20 will have an opportunity to earn around Rs. 1.14 million through match fees and daily allowance payments.
