PCB announces 20% increase in match fee, other benefits for match officials

The Pakistan Cricket Board Tuesday announced its panel of match officials for the expanded 2023-24 cricket season, which will see the return of regional and departmental cricket after four years, thus, substantially increasing the number of matches.

Ninety-seven First XI matches were held in the 2022-23 cricket season alone, but following the restoration of the PCB Constitution 2014, around 200 First XI matches will be held in the 2023-24 season.

To cater for the enhanced requirement and following an annual appraisal process, the PCB has increased the number of match officials in each category. This will provide more opportunities to the match officials under the current system and also increases the earning chances after the PCB decided to increase the monthly retainers of the elite and supplementary panel by 20 per cent.

Additionally, the PCB has also increased match fees, daily allowances and retirement benefits of the match officials by 20 per cent.

In the elite panel of match referees, the PCB has added seven officials to raise the tally to 13. The seven new officials, who have been promoted, are: Aleem Khan Moosa, Athar Laiq, Bilal Khiljee, Kamran Chaudhry, Khalid Jamshed, Mohammad Aslam and Sohail Idrees.

Similarly, and envisaging eight first-class matches will run concurrently, the PCB had increased the pool of elite umpires from 14 to 23. The nine match officials, who have been promoted from the supplementary to elite panel are: Abdul Moqeet, Aslam Bareach, Farooq Ali Khan, Ghulam Sarwar, Imranullah Aslam, Kashif Sohail, Majid Hussain, Qaiser Khan and Zulfiqar Jan.

In the supplementary panel, which will be involved in non-first-class and pathways cricket matches but will also be available to cover for the elite match officials in First XI matches, the PCB has promoted nine match referees. This includes Saman Zulfiqar, who becomes the first women’s match referee to rise to this level. Others are: Abu-al-Hasnat Rao, Allah Ditto, Fazal Akbar Shah, Ghulam Mustafa, Inamullah Khan, Muhammad Amiruddin Ansari, Samiul Haq and Sohail Khan.

Meanwhile, the PCB has also confirmed women’s and international panel of match officials.

The women’s panel of umpires includes, Afia Amin, Humairah Farah, Nazia Nazir, Riffat Mustafa, Sabahat Rasheed, Saleema Imtiaz and Shakila Rafiq, while the international panel of match officials is Aleem Dar, Asif Yaqoob, Rashid Riaz Waqar, Faisal Khan Afridi (all umpires), Muhammad Javed Malik (Multan) and Ali Naqvi (both match referees).

The PCB group that reviewed the match officials’ last season’s performances and decided on the 2023-24 panel included: Shakil Ahmed Shaikh (Chair – Domestic Restructuring Committee), Aizad Syed (Acting Director – Academies), Haroon Rashid (Chair - Selection Committee and Acting Director – Domestic Cricket), Saqib Irfan (Senior Manager – Domestic cricket), Bilal Qureshi (Manager – Umpires & Referees) and Abdul Hameed (Assistant Manager – Umpires and Referee).

PCB PANEL OF MATCH OFFICIALS 2023-24

PCB Elite Panel of Match Referees (13) - Aleem Khan Moosa (Karachi), Ali Naqvi (Lahore), Athar Laiq (Karachi), Bilal Moinul Haq Khiljee (Lahore), Iftikhar Ahmed (Karachi), Kamran Chaudhry (Lahore), Khalid Jamshed (Lahore), Muhammad Anees (Lahore), Muhammad Aslam (Quetta), Muhammad Iqbal Sheikh (Hyderabad), Muhammad Javed Malik (Multan), Nadeem Arshad (Faisalabad) and Sohail Idrees (Lahore)

PCB Elite Panel of Umpires (23) - Abdul Moqeet (Lahore), Aleem Dar (Lahore), Aley Haider (Karachi), Asif Yaqoob (Islamabad), Aslam Bareach (Quetta), Faisal Khan Afridi (Sargodha), Farooq Ali Khan (Abbottabad), Ghulam Sarwar (Sibi), Imran Jawed (Karachi), Imranullah Aslam (Bahawalpur), Kashif Sohail (Khanewal), Majid Hussain (AJK), Muhammad Asif (Lahore), Muhammad Sajid (Charsadda), Nasir Hussain (Lahore), Qaiser Khan (Lahore), Rashid Riaz Waqar (Lahore), Saqib Khan (Abbottabad), Shozab Raza (Lahore), Syed Imtiaz Iqbal (Karachi), Tariq Rasheed (Lahore), Waleed Yaqub (Lahore) and Zulfiqar Jan (Charsadda)

PCB Supplementary Panel of Match Referees (11) - Abu-al-Hasnat Rao (Lahore), Ahmer Saeed (Karachi), Ali Gohar (Karachi), Allah Ditto (Islamabad), Fazal Akbar Shah (Peshawar), Ghulam Mustafa (Kasur), Inamullah Khan (Lahore), Muhammad Amiruddin Ansari (Karachi), Saman Zulfiqar (Sheikhupura), Samiul Haq (Faisalabad) and Sohail Khan (Lahore)

PCB Supplementary Panel of Umpires (28) - Abdul Karim (Naseerabad), Aftab Hussain Gillani (Bahawalpur), Ahmed Nadeem (Peshawar), Ahmed Shahab (Lahore), Aqeel Aadil Khan (Karachi), Asif Farooq Awan (Gujranwala), Dilshad Ali (Multan), Haroon Malik (Sargodha), Hashim Ali (Lodhran), Hassan Mahmood (Lahore), Irfan Haider (Islamabad), Kamran Khalil (Lahore), Khalid Mehmood Snr. (Karachi), Mir Dad (Islamabad), Muhammad Basit (Lahore), Muhammad Fayyaz (Peshawar), Muhammad Imran (Sargodha), Muhammad Irfan Dilshad (Lahore), Muhammad Kaleem (Lahore), Muhammad Waqas (Lahore), Qaiser Waheed (Lahore), Rafiq Ahmad (Dadu), Rana Muhammad Arshad (Faisalabad), Raza Asghar (Sheikhupura), Saleem Butt (Rawalpindi), Sultan Mahmood (Loralai), Syed Fahim Ahmed Bukhari (Karachi) and Waqar Ahmed (Islamabad)

PCB Development Panel of Umpires (40) - Aamer Atta (DG Khan), Abdul Qayoom (Karachi), Abdul Wasay (Kohat), Abrar Ahmed (Kasur), Adnan Rashid (Lahore), Ajmal Khan (Swat), Akhtar Ali (Karachi), Anser Mahmood (Pattoki), Asim Alvi (Karachi), Farooq Anwar Bajwa (Faisalabad), Farooq Jan (Charsadda), Ghayyur Hussain (Peshawar), Hameed Khan (Quetta), Hidayatullah (Pishin), Jaffar Hussain (Peshawar), Jamshid Hussain (Peshawar),  Khalid Mahmood Jnr. (Quetta), Khalil Ahmad Siddiqi (Kasur), Maqbool Ahmed (Faisalabad), Mesam Turabi (Gujjar Khan), Muhammad Aamir Sharif (Kohat), Muhammad Arif (DI Khan), Muhammad Yousaf (DG Khan), Mumtaz Ali (Loralai), Munir Ahmed (Kasur), Naik Muhammad (Kohat), Nasar Khan (Mardan), Naseer Ahmed (Chakwal), Naushad Khan (Peshawar), Naveed Khan (Nowshera), Noor ul Hakam (Buner), Raweed Khan (Charsadda), Sagheer Ahmed (Lahore), Saifullah Khan (Sargodha), Shahid Qayyum (Faisalabad), Shamim Ansari (Karachi), Sohail Khan (Charssada), Sohail Zaman Khattak (Peshawar), , Waqas Zeb (Lahore) and Zeeshan Arif (Mirpur, AJK)

PCB Women’s Panel of Umpires (7) - Afia Amin (Lahore), Humairah Farah (Lahore), Nazia Nazir (Lahore), Riffat Mustafa (Kasur), Sabahat Rasheed (Lahore), Saleema Imtiaz (Karachi) and Shakila Rafiq (Kasur)

ICC International Panel of Match Officials (6) - Aleem Dar (Lahore), Asif Yaqoob (Islamabad), Rashid Riaz Waqar (Lahore), Faisal Khan Afridi (Sargodha) (all umpires); Muhammad Javed Malik (Multan) and Ali Naqvi (Lahore) (both match referees).