October 30, 2002	Wednesday	Sha’aban 23,1423

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KARACHI, Oct 29: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB)’s decision to include Performance Based Emoluments clause in the original players’ contract offered to the Zimbabwe-bound national squad could lead to the cricketers becoming easy prey for bookmakers.

PCB Monday announced cash incentives for individual performances.

A player, besides getting his usual match and slab fee, will have earn additional 20 per cent reward if Pakistan win either a Test or a One-day International. Similarly, the same will be deducted in case Pakistan lose a match.

But the real problem lies in the cash awards made public for individual performances. PCB promises to hand out Rs 100,000 each to anyone scoring a century, claiming five wickets in innings, holding four catches or run-outs and wicket-keeper effecting four dismissals in an innings.

In addition, a batsman making 200 or more in an innings expects to earn another Rs 250,000. Another amount of Rs 200,000 will be dished to any bowler picking up six or more wickets in an innings.

To earn these rewards, the players will have to toil extremely hard in the sun to achieve the desired milestones. But what if a shady character, without arousing any suspicion, somehow manages to contact some players and offer more attractive bounties.

For instance, a player just might think why he has to put in extra effort to get what the PCB has offered. He would easily strike a hefty deal with one of the bookies and underperform and yet get more without sweating much.

Suppose a player is offered Rs 200,000 for scoring, say something like 20-40 or take a couple of wickets.

To stop this menace, it would had been wiser for PCB’s top brass to reward players at the end of the tour without making prior announcement as they did Monday.