There were once again confusion and raised eyebrows as the central contracts for 2009 were announced by the PCB. Some interesting names included were Faisal Iqbal, Mohammed Hafeez, Yasir Hameed and Samiullah Niazi.

Danish Kaneria is bizzarely moved from category C to category A by the PCB even though he didnt represent Pakistan at all during 2008. Shoaib Akhtar has been awarded a category A contract even though he has not played regularly for Pakistan, has missed a number of domestic fixtures and has the cloud of a potential ban hanging over him.

Other rather interesting inclusions include "forgotten men" Yasir Hameed, Muhammad Hafeez, Samiuallh Niazi and Abdur Rehman, who are all selected ahead of a number of promising youngsters like Mohammad Talha, Anwer Ali and Mohammad Aamer., although promising youngsters Azhar Ali and Umar Amin are given category C contracts.

However the biggest nonsense is the inclusion of Faisal Iqbal and this as a category B player.  He is nowhere near the one day side, he is nowhere near the test side, he is nowhere near the T20 side. He has proven himself to be a mediocre cricketer who looks ok on flat pitches in Pakistan, but hasnt got the skills or the temperament to play at the highest level.

There is only one reason why he has been awarded this contract and that is simply because he is the nephew of Javed Miandad. Nepotism is disgusting in any form and such nepotism and abuse of power from a former great of Pakistan is simply not acceptable.

The contracts were awarded after inputs from Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam, Abdul Qadir, chief selector and Yawar Saeed, the team manager. The other winner in the new contracts - and another example of the vague criteria applied by the administration - is Danish Kaneria. Last year, Kaneria was demoted to category C, a decision which prompted considerable criticism at the time. Yet, without playing a single match for Pakistan in 2008, Kaneria finds himself in category A this year.

Salman Butt and Umar Gul also move up after impressive years. But Sohail Tanvir, Pakistan's best ODI bowler in 2008, will rightly ask why he is in the same group as Yasir Hameed, Faisal Iqbal and Mohammad Hafeez, none of whom played for Pakistan last year.

Seniority, said the PCB, played a significant role this time. Last year, a mix of seniority, performance, fitness and discipline had been factored in while awarding the contracts. "The central contracts were devised by coach Intikhab Alam, manager Yawar Saeed and chief selector Abdul Qadir and the main criteria was seniority of the players," Salim Altaf, chief operating officer PCB, told reporters.

Salaries for each category remain the same, a boost given speculation in recent weeks that the board would cut down salaries in the face of a severe financial crunch. That means category A players receive Rs 250,000 per month, category B Rs 175,000 and category C, Rs 100,000.

The retainership category has been removed this time and no winning bonuses will be on offer as they were last year but match fees for Tests have been increased from Rs 250,000 per match to Rs 350,000.

Category A Shoaib Akhtar, Younis Khan, Danish Kaneria, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Misbah-ul-Haq, Salman Butt, Umar Gul

Category B Yasir Hameed, Faisal Iqbal, Mohammad Hafeez, Sohail Tanvir

Category C Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Abdur Rehman, Yasir Arafat, Fawad Alam, Khurram Manzoor, Saeed Ajmal, Sohail Khan, Wahab Riaz, Samiullah Khan Niazi, Sarfraz Ahmad, Nasir Jamshed, Umar Amin, Azhar Ali