PCB gives Under-19 players central contracts for the first time, after 3-1 in England

The Pakistan Cricket Board has given its Under-19 players central contracts for the first time. Chairman Mohsin Naqvi announced it on Monday at a meeting with the squad, after the team beat England 3-1 in a four-match youth ODI series.

No U19 side in Pakistan has been on a retainer before. Until now the pathway was tour fees and match payments, with nothing between series.

What the PCB has and has not said

The board has confirmed the contracts exist and that they follow the England result. It has not published the number of players covered, the categories, the monthly retainer amounts, the contract length or the date they start. Those are the numbers that decide whether this changes anything, and they are not out yet.

We will update this story when the PCB publishes the list.

What the players said

Captain Farhan Yousuf called the meeting with Naqvi encouraging and said the contracts were a source of great happiness.

Aliyan Salman said the contracts would boost confidence and morale and let players focus more on cricket. Jahangir Bilal made the point that matters most at that age: the money lets a young cricketer support his family while he is still years away from a senior contract.

Head coach Shahid Anwar said rewarding good performances boosts the confidence of young players.

Why it matters

Pakistan's U19 setup is the feeder for the senior side, and the gap between playing age-group cricket and earning from the game has pushed players towards club and league work early. A monthly retainer at 17 or 18 changes the calculation for families deciding whether a son keeps playing.

The 3-1 series win in England is the performance that triggered it. Pakistan's U19 teams have produced Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah and Saim Ayub, among others, and the senior selectors watch this group closely.

What to watch next

The detail to look for is the category structure: a flat retainer for a whole squad is a different policy from a graded one that pays a handful of players properly. Also worth watching is whether the contracts survive the next squad turnover, since U19 sides change almost completely every two years.

Our cricket coverage tracks Pakistan squads and fixtures, including the women's team page and the Asian Games 2026 schedule in Pakistan time.