LAHORE: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi has expressed his desire to make public the results of fitness tests of national cricketers, which is crucial for participation in domestic cricket and getting central contracts.
Speaking to the media along with PCB COO Sumeer Ahmed and Director Aqib Javed, Naqvi confirmed that the cricket board is moving away from the traditional category-based A, B, C and D contracts to come up with a format-specific model built around five distinct player tracks.
As per the newly introduced structure, Track AB will have players capable of performing in both Test and ODI cricket, Track A will be reserved for red-ball specialists, while Track BC will cover ODIs and T20 internationals.
Also, Track C has been introduced for T20 professionals and franchise-focused players, whereas Track D is a development track affiliated with the National Cricket Academy system.
However, PCB president Naqvi, while explaining the restructuring of the structure, reiterated that adequate fitness and participation of the national players in domestic cricket is mandatory to get central contracts.
He later voiced support for greater transparency about players’ physical condition, saying he was in favor of making the results of fitness evaluations available to the public through the media.
“We make it mandatory for players to participate in domestic cricket. If someone chooses not to play, there will be consequences,” Naqvi said.
“We have included every detail in the document with great care and thoroughness. I am in favor of making the fitness test results public and available to the media,” he added.
The PCB chief admitted that the performance of the national men’s cricket team, especially in multilateral tournaments, has not been up to par, but insisted that work was being done to address the issue and that progress would be visible soon.
“Achieving good results is a joint responsibility. We are providing everything necessary for the progress of cricket,” Naqvi said.
“Our results in bilateral series have been encouraging, but we have not performed well in matches. Work is being done to address that.
“There is more to consider than just performance. We admit that our results in competitions have not been good enough, but progress is now visible.”