BOMBAY (Reuters)
India are to introduce a contract system with graded payments for their national cricketers that will fulfil a long-standing demand. The new system was approved in principle by the board's working committee on Saturday and now needs a final nod from the board's general body at next month's annual meeting. J.Y.Lele, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said 20 players would be given one-year contracts once the system was approved. "They will be classified into three categories with the A category having five to eight players," Lele said. He added that further details of the classification would be decided by a special committee. "Players will be paid one lump sum amount, match fees and a bonus. In the new system, if a player doesn't play due to injury he still gets the lump sum amount." The board is planning one-year contracts initially which will be reviewed and renewed for another two years after that. Indian players are currently paid for each match but there are no fully-fledged contracts because many players have jobs and are not strictly professionals.

Lele said the players' income would not increase much from their present earnings but the entire payment structure was being regrouped to suit players better.

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