Pakistan’s women cricketers will be entitled to yearlong paid maternity leave, in addition to the option of switching to a non-playing role, as they approach an advanced stage of pregnancy, the country’s cricket board has announced.

The benefit forms part of the new Parental Support Policy introduced by the Pakistan Cricket Board to motivate and support athletes in their journey to parenthood, through pregnancy and after birth, accommodating both male and female athletes under its contracts.

According to the PCB, pregnant women cricketers will be guaranteed a contract for the following year when leaving for maternity leave and when they return, the board will provide physical training and support to rehabilitate them post-childbirth.

Male cricketers are now allowed concessions, and will be entitled to a month-long paid paternity leave, Dawn reported.

Only the Australian and New Zealand cricket boards have such robust parental leave policies, and other boards are said to be working on their own policies.

Only last week Pakistan team captain Bismah Maroof announced her indefinite maternity leave. She thus becomes the first cricketer to benefit from the new policies.

“It is appropriate that we have a player-friendly parental support policy so that our professional cricketers can feel fully supported during an important stage in their lives, without worrying about their careers," PCB Chief Executive Wasim Khan said in a press release.

 “Now that we have maternity leave policy, I am hopeful that it will attract more women and girls to take up the sport as this will help them strike the crucial work-life balance,” Khan said.

Leaves due to parental responsibilities have been a concern in cricket for a while, as athletes give their reproductive years to the sport despite their own personal ambitions for a family, the report said.

(SAM)