Faulkner accuses PCB of ‘not honouring contract’; PCB refutes his claim

LAHORE: Australian medium-fast bowler James Faulkner pulled out of the ongoing Pakistan Super League citing the failure of payment clearance as the primary reason. He accused the Pakistan Cricket Board of not honouring the contract. The PCB, on the other hand, has clarified that payments due to Mr Faulkner as per his contract are fully up to date.

“In December 2021, Mr James Faulkner’s agent confirmed the United Kingdom bank details to which his fee payments should be transferred. This was noted for action. In January 2022, for reasons best known to Mr Faulkner, his agent sent revised banking details of Mr Faulkner’s onshore account in Australia. However, the contracted 70 per cent of Mr Faulkner’s fee payment was transferred to his offshore UK bank account. The receipt of this payment was acknowledged by Mr Faulkner,” read the PCB press release.

It also added: “The remaining 30 per cent of his contractual payment only becomes due 40 days after the completion of the HBL Pakistan Super League 2022, which now remains a matter to be reviewed in line with his contract. In spite of the money being transferred and received in his account, Mr Faulkner continued to insist that a second duplicate payment of the same amount be made to his account in Australia. This meant Mr Faulkner would have been paid twice.”

The PCB has banned Faulkner for life from ever participating in the HBL PSL. Earlier, Faulkner had accused the PCB of not honouring his contractual payments.

The tweets drew sharp reaction from Pakistani Twitterati who quickly dismissed the false accusations by the Aussie player.