LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday approved a substantial increase in match fees for players participating in the 2026-27 Quaid-i-Azam Trophy, reversing its earlier decision to slash payments despite having initially announced much higher rates.

The decision was taken at the 84th meeting of the PCB’s Board of Governors, which also approved the board’s budget for the 2026-27 financial year.

According to a PCB press release, the domestic cricket budget has been increased by Rs1 billion, from Rs3 billion to Rs4 billion.

The board approved a new central contracts framework and payment mechanism, besides increasing match fees for Pakistan national team players. However, it did not disclose the revised payments for international cricketers or the overall size of the budget.

Under the new structure, the match fee for Quaid-i-Azam Trophy players has been raised from Rs30,000 to Rs100,000 per match, while reserve players will receive Rs50,000 instead of Rs15,000.

The increase marks a reversal of the PCB’s earlier policy. In the 2024-25 budget, the board had announced a match fee of Rs200,000 for four-day domestic matches, but players eventually received only Rs30,000 per match.

Similarly, although the PCB had announced a match fee of Rs125,000 for the One-day Cup in its 2024-25 budget, the tournament has not been held at the regional level over the past two seasons.

The Board of Governors also approved funds for women’s One-day and T20 tournaments and sanctioned a minimum monthly salary of Rs42,000 for regional ground staff.

According to the PCB, the board unanimously approved a surplus budget for the 2026-27 financial year. It also approved the budget for the 12th edition of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and endorsed a proposal to grant the league administrative and financial autonomy.

The board sanctioned funds to operationalise 12 additional cricket grounds and allocated Rs6.70 billion for the upgradation of the National Bank Cricket Stadium in Karachi and other cricket infrastructure projects across the country.

It also approved funds for the installation of a state-of-the-art biomechanics machine at the High Performance Centre in Lahore.

PCB chief financial officer Javed Murtaza briefed the meeting on the key features and financial projections of the 2026-27 budget, while the Board of Governors also ratified decisions taken at its previous meeting.

The meeting was attended by board members Anwar Ghani, Punjab chief secretary Zahid Akhtar Zaman, Ismail Qureshi, Sajjad Khokhar, Tanveer Ahmed and Adnan Malik.

Former Pakistan captain Zaheer Abbas, additional secretary, Cabinet Division, Mir Hassan Naqvi, PCB chief operating officer Sumair Ahmed Syed, PSL chief executive officer Salman Naseer and all PCB directors were also present.

Published in Dawn, June 30th, 2026