LAHORE: After Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Mr Ramiz Raja announced an increase in the retainers of domestic contracts by PKR100,000 across all five categories, the cricket board confirmed the list of 191 players who will be offered the enhanced packages for the 157-match six senior men’s events from September 15 to March 30. Monday’s announcement means 10 players in A+ category will now receive a monthly retainer of PKR250,000 each, followed by PKR185,000 each for the 40 cricketers in Category A, PKR175,000 each for 40 players in Category B, PKR165,000 each for the 64 players in Category C and PKR140,000 each for the 37 players in category D. The retainers are in addition to the match fees, daily allowances, share in prize moneys and PCB-arranged lodging, boarding and traveling the domestic cricketers will receive during the six-and-a-half months of cricket. As such, a Category A+ player, featuring in all matches, can earn up to PKR5million, whereas, a Category D player, who shows fitness and form throughout the season, can earn up to PKR3.75m annually. This is a significant rise compared to a flat retainer of PKR50,000 that was offered to the domestic cricketers when the revised cricket structure was launched in the 2019-20 season. In the 2020-21 season, slab system was introduced and remunerations were fixed at PKR150,000 for A+ Category, PKR85,000 for Category A, PKR75,000 for Category B, PKR65,000 for Category C and PKR40,000 for Category D. The latest announcement reflects the value and importance the PCB has decided to put into its domestic events as it aims to attract, incentivise, challenge and provide opportunities to the talented youngsters so that top-notch cricketers can graduate to the next level and strengthen the men’s national cricket team. PCB Chairman Ramiz Raja said: “It is extremely important that our domestic cricketers are paid well-enough so they continue to focus on upgrading their skills and fitness levels without worrying about how they have to take care of their families, loved ones and careers. It is duty of Pakistan Cricket Board to look after the cricketers in the country and I am very happy to announce this move. The significant increase in salaries, which I am hopeful will improve further in future, strengthens our current domestic system and removes ambiguities surrounding the welfare and sound earning opportunities for our cricketers who can adopt first-class cricket as a career.” Amongst the 191 cricketers who have been offered domestic contracts for 2021-22 include 20 cricketers from the recently-organised CCA two-day tournaments. Out of these 20 cricketers, 11 are from far-flung areas of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as the PCB remains committed in not only tapping talent from these areas but also involving them in the national framework. In a continuation of its policy of rewarding last season’s top-performing cricketers, Kamran Ghulam, the recipient of the PCB Domestic Cricketer of 2020 award, and off-spinner Sajid Khan, member of the Test side, have been promoted to A+ category from C and A categories, respectively. Kamran broke the 36-year-old record of the most runs in a first-class Quaid-e-Azam Trophy tournament when he scored 1,217 last season, while his Khyber Pakhtunkhwa teammate Sajid was the most successful bowler as he snared 67 wickets at 25.09 runs apiece. The 191 domestic contracts have been split between the six CAs with each association earning a maximum of 32 players who were selected following a consultation process between the head coaches and their chairs and chief executives. These cricketers have been shortlisted from a pool of 40 players each per CA, who were announced on 4 September. Players who have not been offered domestic contracts, will remain available for selection for their association and, like last year, will receive match fee, daily allowance and share in prize money. A number of leading international cricketers have confirmed to the PCB they will prefer event-based contracts instead of the season contracts. These cricketers will be offered the agreed contracts in the lead up to the event they will make themselves available to participate in. The 20 players to breakthrough the CCA Two-day Tournament are: Balochistan: Abdul Hanan (Killa Abdullah), Aftab Ahmed (Loralai), Fahad Hussain (Jaffarabad), Mohammad Idrees (Quetta), Mohammad Javed (Pishin), Sanaullah (Loralai), Syed Zainullah (Pishin) and Tariq Jameel (Loralai) Central Punjab: Haseeb-ur-Rehman (Lahore), Mohammad Irfan Jnr (Sheikhupura), Mohammad Tabriaz (Sialkot) and Mohammad Waheed (Lahore) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Mohammad Ibrahim (Swabi), Waqar Ahmad (Lower Dir) and Yasir Khan (Bannu) Northern: Asad Raza (Faisalabad) Sindh: Khuzaima Bin Tanveer (Karachi), Mushtaq Ahmed Kalhoro (Sukkur) and Junaid Ilyas (Karachi) Southern Punjab: Mohammad Shroon Siraj (Sahiwal).