Departmental cricket, PCB hikes annual team fees from millions to crores

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has issued a notification outlining its new departmental cricket policy significantly increasing the annual registration fees for departmental teams.

According to sources, the steep fee hike has raised concerns among several departments. They pointed out that the annual fee was previously increased to PKR 3 million then to PKR 5 million last year and has now been raised to PKR 15 million calling the increase excessive.

Department representatives said they already bear all operational expenses and the higher annual fee would discourage departments from participating. They also argued that they already pay players competitive salaries and imposing minimum salary requirements would place an additional financial burden on them.

Under the new PCB policy, the annual fee for a Grade One departmental team has been set at PKR 15 million while the annual fees for Grade Two Gold and Grade Two Silver teams have been fixed at PKR 4.2 million and PKR 4 million, respectively.

The PCB has also introduced minimum salary requirements for players. Under the policy:

• Grade One departments must pay each player at least PKR 125,000 per month (PKR 1.5 million annually).
• Grade Two Gold teams must pay at least PKR 75,000 per month.
• Grade Two Silver teams must pay at least PKR 50,000 per month.

Departments will also be required to sign players on one-year contracts.

The PCB has also released policies covering the President’s Trophy Grade One First-Class, President’s Cup One-Day and President’s Trophy Grade Two Gold & Silver competitions.

According to the policy:

• Grade One match fees have been set at PKR 10,000 per match with reserve players receiving PKR 5,000 while the daily allowance has been fixed at PKR 5,000.
• In Grade Two, the match fee will be PKR 5,000, with a daily allowance of PKR 4,000.

The PCB has called an important meeting on June 29 to discuss the implementation of the new departmental cricket policy and related decisions.

The board has also made it mandatory for departments to bear all participation expenses, while the annual participation fee must be paid by July 15.

Additionally, the PCB has banned cash payments for match fees, daily allowances and player contract payments. All payments must now be made through bank transfers.

Departmental cricket competitions will be held in Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa while the PCB will provide departments with a list of approved hotels.