LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has suspended all players' contracts on Saturday following the country's shocking exit from the World Cup and will replace them with performance-based arrangements, its chairman said.

``All players' contracts stand suspended,'' the PCB Chairman, Naseem Ashraf, told a news conference here.

Ashraf, without naming any player, said no one, even the biggest stars, should think they can play for Pakistan without performing. The Board will ``introduce performance-based contracts very soon,'' he said.

Ashraf submitted his own resignation after Pakistan's successive defeats in the World Cup eliminated it from the mega event. However, the Pakistan President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, a patron of the PCB, rejected Ashraf's resignation on Friday and asked him to continue.

Not the time to panic

``It's not the time to panic and over react,'' Ashraf said. ``I know people are angry and disgusted with the performance of the national team, but let me assure you that cricket is not going to die down in this country of 160 million people.''

Pakistan's next international assignment is the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa in September, and Ashraf said the PCB has enough time to regroup after the debacle in the West Indies.

The cricket Board has formed a three-member Performance Evaluation Committee to look into the cause of the defeats in the West Indies, he said.

The committee — former Test players Ijaz Ahmed, Salahuddin Ahmed and Salim Altaf — will submit its report within the next 30 days, and it will be released publicly, Ashraf said.

He felt that the Pakistan players lacked mental toughness. ``We need to work upon this aspect as this is the most important area through which most top teams win matches,'' Ashraf said.

Improve fielding

Pakistan is also planning to hire a baseball coach from the United States to improve the national team's fielding. ``The coach will be not be for three months or four months, we will hire him for at least one year,'' Ashraf said.

He said Pakistan would now look for a new coach after the death of Bob Woolmer. ``It will take some time to find a suitable man,'' Ashraf said.

He said captain Inzamam-ul-Haq, who stepped down after the World Cup elimination, would not be replaced immediately. ``We don't want to make a hasty decision, we will name the captain and vice-captain within 30 days,'' Ashraf said.

Ashraf also announced that one billion rupees would be spent to develop stadiums around the country, but didn't specify the period of time. — AP

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail