Mohammad Amir turns down PCB's offer of domestic central contract

• Amir has been placed in Category A of domestic central contract.
• "I was unaware that my name was included in the list," Amir says.
• He urges PCB to give his contract offer to a junior player.

LAHORE: Pakistani pacer Mohammad Amir — who due to a tiff with former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officials Misbah-ul-Haq and Waqar Younis has not been playing for Pakistan — has rejected the board's offer of a central contract.

The PCB had earlier in the day announced domestic contracts for as many as 191 players, who were offered enhanced packages for 157-match six senior men’s events from September 15 to March 30.

The announcement means 10 players in A+ category would receive a monthly retainer of PKR250,000 each, followed by PKR185,000 each for the 40 cricketers in Category A, PKR175,000 each for 40 players in Category B, PKR165,000 each for the 64 players in Category C and PKR140,000 each for the 37 players in category D, according to a statement from the PCB.

Amir has been placed in Category A of the contract, which the pacer rejected, saying that the cricket board had not approached him before making the announcement.

The pacer last year announced he wished to retire as he felt "tortured" in an environment created by the Pakistan team management that is "pushing him away".

“I am not going away from cricket but I am being pushed away from it,” the left-arm pacer said in a video released on social media, adding that an “environment” has been created for him to get “sidelined”.

Meanwhile, speaking to journalists today, Amir said: "I was unaware that my name was included in the list. I urge PCB to give my contract to a junior player as it would benefit them [...] I am not even available for international games."

On the other hand, several senior players Mohammad Hafeez, Wahab Riaz, Kamran Akmal, and Umar Akmal have not been awarded the central domestic contract.

Kamran Akmal, speaking to Geo News, said that he had asked the PCB to award the domestic contracts based on performance and seniority.

"I play domestic season throughout the year, and I deserve nothing except the A+ category. I will not accept any other category," the senior batsman said.