PCB will now conduct fitness tests before giving central contract

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will conduct stringent fitness tests before awarding central contracts for the next 12 months, bringing currently contracted players and other international and domestic performers into the ambit.

The fitness test will be carried out between September 6 and 8 at Lahore and the process will be supervised by white ball head coach Gary Kirsten and the team's physiotherapist and trainer.

The players will then leave for Faisalabad for the Champions Cup.

The fitness tests will basically decide which players make the contracts this year while performances would also be given priority, a reliable source in the board said.

Both the foreign coaches (Kirsten and Jason Gillespie) have made it clear to the selectors and PCB that their first criteria for selecting players will be their fitness status, he added.

Gillispie was not happy with the fitness of some players in the recent Test matches against Bangladesh and felt they were not able to sustain their inten