LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has earned praise after the announcement of its ‘Parental Support Policy’. The policy has been launched to support women cricketers who will be allowed to opt for non-playing roles during pregnancy. The women cricketers also will be entitled to take 12 months of paid maternity leave after childbirth. The aim of the policy is to motivate champion professional cricketers in their journey to parenthood’ and facilitate their return to the game while balancing their parental responsibilities with the demands of their cricketing career. Former Pakistan women’s team captain Sana Mir said the policy would help the sport in the country. The PCB said in a statement that apart from 12 months of paid maternity leave, the players will be guaranteed a contract extension for the following year. “The PCB believes that a player’s right to pursue the game on a professional level should not be limited because of their pregnancy or responsibilities as a new parent. Upon conclusion of the maternity leave, the player will be reintegrated into cricketing activities and provided adequate medical and physical support in respect of their post-childbirth rehabilitation,” the cricket board said in a statement. “Male cricketers, who are expectant or new fathers, will also be entitled to 30 days of paid leave,” the statement said. PCB chief executive Wasim Khan said the board wanted to have a player-friendly parental support policy. “The PCB has a duty of care towards its cricketers. It is appropriate that we have a player-friendly parental support policy so that our professional cricketers can feel fully supported during an important stage in their lives, without worrying about their careers,” Khan said. “Now that we have (a) maternity leave policy, I am hopeful that it will attract more women and girls to take up the sport,” he added. And Sana Mir, Pakistan’s most famous women’s cricketer who played 120 ODIs and 106 T20Is, congratulated the board and all the players on the new policy. “This should definitely help players balance their lives better,” Mir wrote on Twitter. “Also thinking about all the players who have been vocal about this in their journeys of motherhood and paving ways for others. Congratulations to all involved.”