The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has confirmed it is ripping up the old four-tier contract ladder and swapping it for what it calls “format tracks”, a move the chairman Mohsin Naqvi believes will cut the influence of “human selectors by 85%”.
Until now, contracts were renewed each June and players dropped neatly into Categories A to D, with pay bands published for everyone to see. That public list is going. In its place, the board will sort players by what they actually play:
• Track A – red-ball specialists
• Track AB – Test and 50-over players
• Track BC – general white-ball hands
• Track D – out-and-out T20 operators
Tracks, not pecking orders
On paper the shift sounds tidy, but supporters will no longer be told who sits where, or even how many cricketers the PCB has signed up in each track. The document released on Monday is frank on that point: the board will share less, not more, when it comes to individual labels. That could make it tricky for fans – and, whisper it, the media – to work out how a batter or bowler is really viewed inside Gaddafi Stadium.
Money still talks
Why would anyone volunteer for Track A if it limits time in the lucrative T20 leagues? The board’s answer is simple: bigger cheques. The PCB has promised Test specialists will earn “significantly higher” retainers than white-ball players. Those on the lower-paying tracks, the logic goes, can still top up wages on the franchise circuit – something the red-ball crew would be asked to forgo for large chunks of the year.
Players’ view
Most cricketers have kept their powder dry in public, waiting to see numbers rather than slogans. One international regular, speaking on background, described the change as “interesting but a bit of a gamble – we haven’t seen the fine print yet”. Another wondered aloud whether the lack of public categories might leave players “guessing how highly the board rate us”.
Data in, selectors out
The headline promise – reducing the role of “human selectors by 85%” – has raised eyebrows. For now, the PCB has not detailed exactly which metrics will decide a player’s fate, only that performance data across domestic, international and league cricket will feed the system. A senior administrator told reporters the board would “pair the numbers with a small panel for the remaining 15% – there will still be a human safety net”.
Transparency v privacy
Critics argue the board has sidestepped meaningful transparency. If the public cannot tell who holds a Track A deal, will Test cricket truly feel valued? Supporters of the plan counter that fewer labels may ease pressure on fringe players and allow the PCB to shuffle contracts without headlines screaming “so-and-so demoted”.
What happens next?
The current batch of contracts expires at the end of June. Naqvi wants the new list finalised before Pakistan’s next Test assignment, though with data models still being tweaked, a short delay would not surprise anyone who has followed PCB timelines down the years.
The bigger picture
Boards outside England, India and Australia have wrestled for two decades with keeping Test cricket financially attractive. Pakistan’s answer is to pay red-ball players more, restrict their franchise windows and hope the numbers add up. Whether that balance holds, especially for multi-format stars who can command handsome T20 deals, will become clear only once the first offers hit inboxes.
For now, the message from the chairman is blunt: “We have to modernise or we will fall behind.” The trick, as ever, lies in the detail the public cannot yet see.
