Stringent Screening For Pakistan Player Agents

Player agents have been made aware of the stringent screening they must now pass to represent Pakistan cricketers following the alleged misdeeds of Mazhar Majeed during the spot-fixing scandal in England last year.

Though the PCB had announced in September last year that all agents had to register with the board, details of the parameters of those wishing to represent Pakistan players, at home or abroad, have only recently been formulated and released now.

 They are available on the board's website. As well as a number of financial requirements - upwards of Rs 200,000 for processing and administrative charges, a non-refundable amount - the applicants will also be required to provide a number of character clearances. These include clearances from police, the cricket board in the country where the applicant resides, as well as the Pakistan High Commission in the country where the applicant resides, in case the applicant lives abroad.

Other requirements are also laid out, as a check on the applicant's financial background and track record. At the end of every calendar year, the agent will be required to renew his registration, at a cost of Rs 100,000.

The measures are part of the board's continuing efforts to control the fall-out from last year's spot-fixing scandal, which eventually saw three of its top players, including the Test captain Salman Butt, banned for a minimum of five years by an independent tribunal. Along with Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif were found guilty of bowling pre-determined, deliberate no-balls during the Lord's Test against England in August, at the alleged behest of their UK-based agent Majeed.

The concept of player agents is not fully formed even now among Pakistan's top players. Majeed looked after the commercial and sponsorship of a number of players in the side, but only in the UK and not with the degree of control agents for players from Australia and England have. Subsequently, Pakistan's players have not benefited as well as players from around the world as more money and commercial opportunity has flooded into the game.

A number of players involve members of the family - a brother or cousin - to handle commercial deals within Pakistan while a number of others have agents based in the UAE, the UK and even the USA.