LAHORE, May 26: Recalled fast bowler Mohammad Sami, despite being selected in all the three formats for the forthcoming Sri Lanka tour, failed to earn the central contract as the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Saturday announced the contracts for 21 players in three different categories.

The six-month contract is going to cover the period from Jan 1, 2012 to June 30, 2012.

Also experienced players Abdul Razzaq and Kamran Akmal along with young left-arm medium-fast bowler Rahat Ali, named in the ODI squad for the Sri Lanka tour, failed to get place in any of the categories.

The decision to omit Sami and Rahat seems questionable as both were picked by the selection committee for the Sri Lanka series on the basis of their performances in domestic cricket.

While 21 players have been placed in ‘A’, ‘B’, and ‘C’ categories, as many aspirants have been included in the stipend category.

A PCB news release said: “The PCB announces the players’ central contract list for 2012 calendar year. Players have been awarded contracts in four categories.

“PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf announced the awarding of the central contracts at the dinner held to honour Pakistan’s Asia Cup winning team on Friday.

“PCB chairman had announced a 25 per cent increase in the retainer-ship amount for all the categories and a 10 per cent increase in the match fee. This is the first increase in central contracts in three years,” the news release added.

“Commenting on the awarding of central contracts Zaka said: “We are pleased to announce the players central contracts for 2012. After three years we have increased the fees payable to the players which we hope will be a morale boost for them.

“We have also given recognition to those players who have distinguished themselves with consistent performances on the domestic circuit. We have also recognised U-19 players in the central contract list and this will serve as a huge encouragement for them.”

Test and ODI captain Misbah-ul-Haq, other senior cricketers like Younis Khan, Umar Gul, national Twenty20 captain Mohammad Hafeez, leading off-spinner Saeed Ajmal, seasoned all-rounder Shahid Afridi and left-arm spinner Abdul Rehman, were placed in the ‘A’ category.

Umar Akmal, who has not been consistent enough to cement his place in Test cricket, also earned a place in the ‘A’ category.

Shoaib Malik, who could hardly earn a place in the T20 team for the Sri Lanka trip has been given the ‘B’ category. Along with him is Test opener Taufiq Umar. Fast emerging Azhar Ali and ever-improving Asad Shafiq along with pacers Junaid Khan and Aizaz Cheema are also included in the ‘B’ category contract.

Nasir Jamshed, who has been dropped from the Sri Lankan’s bound One-day and T20 teams due to hand injury, is placed in the ‘C’ category., Consistently under-performing opener Imran Farhat, who has remained with the national team during the most of the period of central contract, was kept in the ‘C’ category.

Sarfraz Ahmed, Adnan Akmal, Hammad Azam and Wahab Riaz also earned the place in this category.

Though no PCB official was ready to give comment on the criteria of awarding the central contract, PCB’s Director International Intikhab Alam in a brief statement said as the central contract was given on the basis of performances before Jan 1, 2012, some players were missing adding they might be considered for the next period on the basis of their performance.

Central contracts:

Category ‘A’: Misbah-ul-Haq, Younis Khan, Umar Gul, Mohammad Hafeez, Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi, Abdur Rehman, Umar Akmal.

Category ‘B’: Shoaib Malik, Taufiq Umar, Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Junaid Khan, Aizaz Cheema.

Category ‘C’: Sarfraz Ahmed, Adnan Akmal, Hammad Azam, Wahab Riaz, Imran Farhat, Faisal Iqbal, Nasir Jamshed.

Stipends:

Sohail Tanvir, Khalid Latif, Sharjeel Khan, Shakeel Ansar, Haris Sohail, Raza Hasan, Ahmed Shehzad, Usman Salahuddin, Ayub Dogar, Imran Khan, Bilawal Bhatti, Awais Zia, Shahzaib Hasan, Mohammad Khalil, Anwar Ali, Afaq Raheem, Bismillah Khan, Babar Azam, Sami Aslam, Zia-ul-Haq, Usman Qadir.