Unexpected pause on the Cricketing action has seen fans craving for more action. They have been enjoying the Instagram lives and chats of the players. Boards, on the other hand, don’t have a lot to rest. They have to work in close coordination with the government to ensure that game gets onto the ground as novel coronavirus fades from public health.
Moreover, these are times when annual contracts and important initiatives are rejuvenated. From the globe, the update hasn’t been encouraging. Australian and English cricket boards have taken several cost-cutting measures. These are expected to have a significant impact on women’s Cricket but Pakistan has stood against all odds. A few weeks ago, it was reported that the side was training virtually and now the central contact released by the board has assured women of Pakistan.
The central contact for women, as released by PCB, features two new faces. Left-arm spinner Anam Amin and middle-order batter Omaima Sohail. There are a total of nine players in the contract. They have been divided into three categories namely A, B, and C. Interestingly, there is a significant rise in retainers given to Pakistani women. Category A players will enjoy an increase of 33% in their daily retainers. Whereas, the players in the other two categories will have an increase of 25-30 percentage.
Moreover, there has been an important creation of emerging contracts as well. It, too, has 9 members. 15-year-old Ayesha Naseem and Syeda Aroob Shah have been included in the list alongside Muneeba Ali Siddiqui, Fatima Sana, Kainat Hafeez, Najiha Alvi, Rameen Shamim, Saba Nazir, and Sadia Iqbal. A more encouraging part of the announcement came in the form of a vital increase in the increase of match fees and prize money for domestic players.
There is an increase of 100 percentage in the match fee and the prize money. Moreover, daily allowance has been raised around 50 percentage. Pakistani women have a busy year ahead. They have to play in qualifiers for the World Cup. There is an ACC women’s T20 cup waiting for them.
Not only this, but Pakistan shall also register its first entry into the U-19 women’s T20 World Cup. Urooj Mumtaz, the head of national women’s select committee said that “On behalf of the selection committee, I would like to congratulate all the players who have received the central contracts. The selection committee had detailed deliberations prior to announcing the central contracts. International performances over the past 12 months, fitness standards, and the players’ ability to contribute in both white-ball formats were key measures that formed the criteria for the selection.”
It is heartening to see Pakistan fighting the odds to support the players in these difficult times when revenues are dried. However, this shall hide the fact that a societal overhaul may be vital to take women cricket to roots.
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