No stars in new contract list

KARACHI: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has ironed out details of the new central contracts for the country’s leading cricketers and will announce the list soon. According to sources, the new list will be without any of the country’s top stars and will include a few faces. Following the retirement of former captain Shahid Afridi and flamboyant fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, the PCB has decided against retaining the duo in the list of contracted players. Also out of the list are seasoned allrounder Abdul Razzaq and wicketkeeper-batsman Kamran Akmal, both out of the PCB good books for a variety of reasons. While Razzaq flopped in the World Cup and has since been overlooked for national duty, Kamran is on a PCB blacklist because of suspicions of corruption. So far the PCB is double-minded about Shoaib Malik — another match-fixing suspect — and will decide whether to award him a contract after August 15 when the former captain will appeared before an integrity committee appointed by the Board. The PCB has decided to award contracts for six months.