Buzz: Maxwell, Maddinson return after break

Australian cricketers Glenn Maxwell and Nic Maddinson on Saturday made a return to the game as they played for their club sides in the Victorian premier cricket.

Maxwell scored unbeaten five runs and picked two wickets to help his club Fitzroy Doncaster secure a win over Geelong. On the other hand, Maddinson played a knock of 58 for St Kilda to beat Casey-South Melbourne.

Maxwell had decided to take a short break from cricket to deal with his mental health issues. Cricket Australia (CA) on October 31 announced Maxwell's decision to take a break from the game.

Similarly, Maddinson withdrew himself from Australia A squad on the grounds of mental health on November 9.

PCA offers central contracts to 30 top performing domestic players for 2020-21 season

The Punjab Cricket Association will be offering central contracts to its 30 top performing domestic players for the 2020-21 season, its secretary Puneet Bali said on Saturday.

The first apex council meeting of the association was held on Saturday at PCA stadium at Mohali under the chairmanship of its president Rajinder Gupta.

Bali initiated the discussions with the remarks that PCA was going to introduce a "game-changing" system for cricketers.

Bali, as per a release, stated that he wanted the PCA to be the pioneer in this process and rolled out the plan for having a central contract system on a yearly basis.

The players will be divided into A B and C categories.

'A' category will have 10 players, who will be paid Rs 8 lakh per annum, while 'B' category will also consist of 10 players and will be paid Rs 6 lakh per annum.

The category 'C will comprise another set of 10 players of under 16 and under 19, who will be paid a monthly remuneration of Rs 10,000.

The players for these central contracts will be chosen on the basis of performance during the cricket season and a sub-committee has been constituted to make the rules and to chalk out the modalities.

Bali further announced that a state-of-the-art academy will come up at the PCA stadium.

Watson included in platinum category for PSL 2020

Former Australia player Shane Watson has been included in the 'platinum category' for the next year's Pakistan Super League (PSL).

Watson has featured in all four editions of the PSL and was named the Player of the Tournament for the 2019 edition. With the help of Watson's contribution, Quetta Gladiators lifted their maiden title.

Watson said that he cannot wait to come back to Pakistan to play in season five.

"I can't wait to come back to Pakistan and play in season five. I had an amazing experience in Karachi during the last PSL," Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) official website quoted Watson as saying.

"To be able to connect with the cricket-loving fans in Pakistan and experience Quetta Gladiators winning their first PSL was an amazing experience and one of the highlights of my career," he added.

Other players in the Platinum category are West Indies' Nicholas Pooran and New Zealand's Mitch McClenaghan.