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Shoaib dropped from contracts list, then ‘retained’

Cricpoint.com.

Pakistan’s cricket bosses on Friday provided a lifeline to their fastest bowler Shoaib Akhtar and a host of other discarded Test cricketers by offering them ‘special slots’ in an extended list of new central contracts awarded for a 12-month period.

Shoaib, under fire for inconsistent conduct on last year’s tour of India, was discarded from the A-list of central contracts and was not supposed to get any financial support from the PCB which believes he has a negative attitude and doesn’t deserve any such favour any more but the Governing Board of the PCB that met here on Friday finally opted to give the pacer another chance by creating a special category for Test players who are not currently good enough to make the grade.

But it was batting sensation Misbah-ul-Haq, who emerged as the biggest beneficiary following a marathon meeting of the PCB Governing Board here. On the recommendation of the top Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officials and the national team management, the Governing Board named the 33-year-old batter as the new Pakistan vice-captain till the end of 2008. That is not all.

Misbah, who till the summer of last year was rejected by many as an under-achiever not good enough for international cricket, also catapulted himself to the most lucrative income bracket in the central contracts by securing a place in the elite A category.

He was placed in category C in the previous central contracts awarded last June by the PCB but on the basis of his good showing in the inaugural World Twenty20 championship in South Africa and on the tour of India, he now joins top batsmen Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, pacer Mohammad Asif and skipper Shoaib Malik in the A-list.

“Misbah has consolidated his place in the team,” said PCB chairman Nasim Ashraf after the Board meeting. “His performance has been excellent. He can be described as a senior and a junior player who has a good rapport with the captain and can contribute towards leadership and planning,” he added.

Misbah is the fourth player after pacer Mohammad Asif, opener Salman Butt and senior batsman Younis Khan since last summer to be named as vice-captain A total of 15 players were awarded central contracts in A, B, C categories while seven rookies were bracketed in a newly-introduced lowest slab — ‘D’.

Wicket-keeper Kamran Akmal heads category B that includes Salman Butt, Umar Gul, Shahid Afridi and newcomer Sohail Tanvir. Left-arm spinner Abdul Rehman is in category C with Yasir Arafat, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Danish Kaneria and new lad Fawad Alam.

The new D category includes wicket-keeper Sarfraz Ahmed, Nasir Jamshed, Afaq Rahim, Khurram Manzoor, Nomanullah, Sohail Khan, Zulfiqar Jan and Wahab Riaz. The biggest news, though very much anticipated, after Misbah’s ascent to the A category and his appointment as vice-captain, was the axing of Shoaib Akhtar from the A-list.

The top PCB management opted against recommending Shoaib for a central contract but, after much deliberation, the Governing Board decided to put the pacer and five other Test players in a special category that offers retainers for a 12-month period.

The decision was taken on the basis of recommendations made by PCB’s Committee on International Cricket chaired by Syed Ali Reza and its sub-committee that had a detailed meeting on the issue of the central contracts in Lahore earlier this week.

“It was decided that Shoaib Akhtar and five other players will be awarded special contracts for a one-year period,” Ashraf told media people at a press conference. “The idea is to monitor them for a year and see whether they are capable of making a comeback to international cricket,” he added.

In the list, Shoaib is joined by fellow pacer Mohammad Sami and batsmen Faisal Iqbal, Imran Nazir, Yasir Hameed and Muhammad Hafeez. All these six players featured in the central contracts’ list when it was last issued in June 2007.

The six players will be receiving a monthly retainer of Rs 75,000 each. A similar monthly package would be awarded to eight youngsters who have been drafted in a new ‘D’ category introduced to the central contract system.

The players in the A-list will receive a monthly salary of Rs 250,000 each. The Board has decided to increase the salaries for cricketers in the B and C categories, who will now receive Rs 175,000 and Rs 100,000 respectively.

Among the players demoted in the list are star all-rounder Shahid Afridi and under-performing leg-spinner Danish Kaneria. Ashraf defended the promotions and demotions, saying that it was done on the basis of a transparent formula. “We have decided the central contracts on the basis of performance,” he said.

According to the formula, a player can get a maximum of 20 points according to seniority (number of matches played) while the remaining 80 marks are calculated on the basis of performance that includes fitness, discipline, ICC rankings, recent performances, etc.

[Kool Guy]