Contracts to be discussed on June 11

The Board of Control for Cricket in India's two-member panel and a few senior players will hold discussions on the contracts issue in Bangalore on June 11, a day before the Board's Working Committee meeting in Delhi.

"The committee [comprising vice-president Shashank Manohar and Treasurer N Srinivasan] would discuss the contracts with the players on June 11 in Bangalore," informed BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah from Rajkot on Saturday.

The players have intimated to the BCCI their reservations about signing the long-due contracts and the impasse has continued till the end of the tour of Bangladesh last month.

The BCCI has drastically reduced the retainers to the players and has made it a flat Rs. 5 lakh per player irrespective of his seniority, contrary to the earlier graded system where in they were segregated in three categories of A, B and C and were paid Rs. 50, 35 and 20 lakh respectively.

The BCCI has also proposed incentive-based match fees, giving bonus for victories in individual matches and series both at home and overseas.

The BCCI formed the two-member committee of Manohar and Srinivasan, both tough talkers, to deal with the players' concern over the newly proposed clauses in the contracts which also restrict them from signing up for more than three products/sponsors at a time.

The cap on endorsements has not gone down well with the players and the issue too is bound to come up at the June 11 meeting when the fitness-specific batsmen's camp is in progress at Bangalore's National Cricket Academy.

The outcome of the parley, along with the formation of the rival Indian Cricket League by Zee Television network, would be taken up at the Working Committee meeting in Delhi the following day.

"Yes, the topic of ICL would be discussed by the Working Committee," said Shah.

Shah added that he would decide in two days' time when to have the meeting of the national selectors to pick the team for Ireland, Scotland and England because the original date of June 12 clashed with the meeting of the Working Committee.

"I will decide the new date in a couple of days but the selection committee meeting would be in Bangalore only," Shah said.