Pakistan Cricket Board announce separate red and white-ball contracts for 2022-23

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have released the central contract list for the 2022-23 calendar year. For the first time, separate contracts for red ball and white ball cricket have been introduced.

Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Hasan Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, and Shaheen Afridi are the five players who have been named on both lists. The contracts will be in effect from July 1, 2022 onwards.

A total of 33 players have been included in the contract list, including the emerging category, which is 13 more than the previous year.

Batter Azhar Ali received a promotion to Category A on the red-ball contract list while Fakhar Zaman and Shadab Khan received similar upgrades in the white-ball category.

There has also been an expansion in Pakistan's emerging cricketers' category, with seven players receiving a contract instead of the usual three. Chief Selector Muhammad Wasim shared his thoughts on the newly released central contract list in a press release issued by the PCB, he said:

"I want to congratulate all those who have earned central contracts for the 2022-23 season, especially our four younger players who have received red-ball contracts for the first time as part of our vision and strategy to identify, groom and develop specialists for the traditional and purist format of the game."

Asserting that players outside of the contract list will also be given an opportunity, the Pakistan chief selector added:

"I understand there will be a few disappointed players who have missed out on contracts, but I want to reiterate that we are not limiting and restricting ourselves to these 33 players. As and when required, players from outside the list will be included."

As part of the new contract issued by the Pakistan Cricket Board, the match fee has been increased by ten percent across all formats. Non-playing members will now receive 70 per cent of their match fee, which is an upgrade from the 50 per cent they used to receive earlier.

Also, to compensate for the additional responsibilities that come with leadership, the new contracts include a special captaincy allowance fee.

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Pakistan Central Contract Lists 2022-23

RED AND WHITE-BALL CONTRACTS (5):

Babar Azam, Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Shah Afridi (all Category A), Hasan Ali (red-ball Category B, white-ball Category C) and Imam-ul-Haq (red-ball Category C, white-ball Category B).

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RED BALL CONTRACTS (10):

Category A – Azhar Ali.

Category B – Fawad Alam.

Category C – Abdullah Shafique, Naseem Shah and Nauman Ali.

Category D – Abid Ali, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Saud Shakeel, Shan Masood and Yasir Shah.

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WHITE-BALL CONTRACTS (11):

Category A – Fakhar Zaman and Shadab Khan.

Category B – Haris Rauf.

Category C – Mohammad Nawaz.

Category D - Asif Ali, Haider Ali, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Shahnawaz Dahani, Usman Qadir and Zahid Mehmood.

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EMERGING CONTRACTS (7):

Ali Usman (Southern Punjab), Haseebullah (Balochistan), Kamran Ghulam (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mohammad Haris (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Mohammad Huraira (Northern), Qasim Akram (Central Punjab) and Salman Ali Agha (Southern Punjab).