'Cash strapped' PCB on sacking spree to stay afloat following 'international isolation'

Lahore -  The Pakistan Cricket Board has issued termination notices to 18 of its employees in a bid to reduce its administrative expenses.

The PCB claims that it has suffered loss of revenues after being forced to play its home series abroad and also due to India freezing bilateral cricket ties in 2008.

According to sources in the PCB, the decision to reduce the manpower was taken recently at the meeting of the Governing Council in Naudero, Larkana.

"The council approved that the manpower needs to be reduced to deal with the budget deficits as administrative expenses take up a big chunk of the budget," one source said.

The source said, in the first phase, the PCB has decided to terminate contracts of some coaches and officials who are in the above-60 age group, The Nation reports.

"There will be more employees released later on through the HR department," the source said.

The PCB has been facing budget deficits for the last two years after foreign teams stopped touring Pakistan following the 2009 terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore.

Another source said major casualties of the retrenchment drive could include former Test captains, Intikhab Alam and Wasim Bari both of whom are employed in senior positions in the board.