The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced a special one-time financial package to help out first class cricketers, scorers, umpires and ground staff, facing hardships due to the coronavirus pandemic and lockdowns.
The Board said that the first class cricketers who meet the criteria will be paid 25,000 Pakistani rupees (PKR), the match officials 15,000 PKR and ground staff Rs 10,000 PKR and their identity will not be revealed.
The Board said it will distribute the funds before the Eid holidays and the privacy of applicants will be respected.
"The Board will not make any announcements in relation to who and how many benefited from this one-time scheme," PCB said in release.
"It is also heartening to see our cricketers coming out and supporting the people in need by auctioning their prized possessions and through various charities," Mani said.
"While I am sure many players are making donations in private, I want to applaud and appreciate Shahid Afridi, Rumman Raees and Azhar Ali who have been at the forefront of this noble cause and have been doing outstanding work.
PCB to hire consulting firm to oversee media right broadcasting deal
In a bid to ensure the media broadcasting rights for the next four-year cycle are sold for a maximum amount, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided to hire a consulting company to oversee the process.
PCB Chairman Ehsan Mani had recently cautioned that the Board might face difficulties in getting desired bid amounts for the sale of media broadcasting rights for its international matches at home from 2020 to 2023.
Mani noted that Sri Lankan and South African Boards are also facing problems in getting good bids because of the prevailing economic meltdown, caused by the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown of businesses.
Since the series with India was not held, an amount of $90,000 dollars was deducted from the total contract amount.
The Board has floated the bid documents and has also included a "wagering deal support" clause in it.
The inclusion of the clause apparently has come as a result of the ruckus created during the Pakistan Super League (PSL) when it was revealed that the company which had international live streaming rights of the matches had entered into a deal with a UK-based betting company which live streamed matches on its website and took bets on them from countries where betting is legal.
It caused embarrassment to the Board since betting or gambling of any sort is illegal in Pakistan.