Pak players unhappy with pay hikes

The pay hike announced by Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in the central contracts and match fees has not been received well by many of the leading national team players.

Sources said that captain Misbah-ul-Haq, senior batsman Younis Khan and T20 captain Mohammad Hafeez had already held discussions on the issue soon after the new central contracts and retainers were announced on Friday night.

"Some of the players are not happy with the 25 per cent and 10 percent hikes as they feel keeping in mind the rising inflation they deserved a better deal," one source close to the players said.

"The players are also grumbling that the board as it is took three years to give a pay raise and even now it is not enough for them," one source said.

The PCB announced the list of players who have been given central contracts for the year 2012 after a delay of four months as the last contracts had expired in December last year.

One reliable source confirmed that most of the players who are leaving on the tour to Sri Lanka early on Monday morning have refused to sign the contracts.

"The players feel that the board should have given them more time to have the contracts vetted by their legal advisors and it is not possible for the players to sign the contracts at such short notice," the source said.

Pakistan team manager, Naved Cheema said that there was no deadline set by the board for the players to sign the contracts.

"The longer the players take to sign the contracts and return them back to the board their payments will be delayed," Cheema said.

Interestingly match and tour fees, central contract retainer payments and other bonus payments to the players have been held up for the last four months by the board for various reasons.

The function, held to honour the Pakistan team that won the Asia Cup in March in Bangladesh, also turned sour when Misbah, Shahid Afridi and Umar Akmal all reportedly left the function early as they were not happy with comments passed on some players by the program host, well known writer and compere, Anwar Maqsood and later by a bunch of comedians.

The players believed they were being unnecessarily ridiculed at the function and at one stage when Misbah was called on stage he told Anwar Maqsood that it seemed as if the players had come to the function after losing matches and not winning matches.