Pakistan gives nod for foreign cricketers in domestic tourneys

[King]

Indian cricketers may soon be seen playing domestic cricket in Pakistan with the PCB, in a bid to raise the competition level, allowing regional teams to rope in players from abroad. More... Pakistan gives nod for foreign cricketers in domestic tourneys PTI KARACHI, June 17: Indian cricketers may soon be seen playing domestic cricket here with the Pakistan Cricket Board, in a bid to raise the competition level, allowing regional teams to rope in players from abroad. "Regional teams can now sign an overseas player and we believe cricketers from neighbouring countries like India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh would be keen to play in our domestic cricket for the right price," a PCB official said. The regional teams can also field a guest player from other regions so that there is more balance and equality of strength between the teams, according to the official. "Another incentive we have taken is to award monthly salaries for 12-months to 25 of our best performers in the domestic tournaments. We have earmarked around six crores to pay these salaries," he said. The decisions came after a meeting of the board with representatives of regional teams and departments in the summer hill resort of Bhurban ON Saturday to review the domestic cricket structure. The board official added that the minimum salary to be given to the top players would be Rupees 10,000 while other players appearing for regional teams would also get match fees and daily allowances. "The board is going to spend a big amount of money on improving the financial well being of the domestic players because it is important to have a strong cricket structure at home for our team to be a top team in the world," the official stated. There has been a lot of criticism on the standards of domestic cricket in Pakistan after the national team was eliminated in the first round of the World Cup after losing to minnows, Ireland. The meeting was assumed significance as the representatives passed a vote of confidence in the leadership of the board Chairman Naseem Ashraf who has been appointed directly by the country's President to the prestigious post. "It is the first time that a sitting Chairman appointed directly by the President who is chief patron of the board has been given a unanimous vote of confidence and it augurs well for the future," the official said.

[King]

Good on them. They really need to streamline their domestic cricket. Given Pakistan doemstic cricket teams are pretty much corporate teams they will be able to rope in sub continent cricketers if not cricketers from other parts of the world. This will only help them produce much more capable players.