PCB to decide on players participation in foreign leagues

The PCB cricket committee will meet here next week to take a policy decision on giving permission to players to take part in the foreign leagues but it has been decided that clearance will have to be taken for participating in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).

"First and foremost is the participation of our players in foreign leagues. Because players have offers to play in the Australian Big Bash and BPL. But the board's policy has been that players must give prominence to their domestic commitments above any foreign league and take permission from the board to go and play in any league," a PCB source told PTI.

The comments have come at a time when some teams in the Big Bash tournament have announced the signing of Pakistani players namely Umar Akmal, Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi and others.

The source said the board would decide next week on the dates for the domestic T20 championship and after that it would be known whether there was a time slot for players to go and play in the Australian Big Bash.

"Time is a problem but our players have contracts to play one or two games in the Big Bash so it shouldn't be a major problem," he said.

However, for the BPL, the players will have to seek clearance from the board keeping in mind that there were payment-related issues between players and the franchises in its inaugural edition.