Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is yet to solve the ongoing club cricket crisis as both the men’s and women’s Dhaka Premier League (DPL) are facing uncertainty.
Last year, the 12-team men’s DPL was played between March 3-April 29 while the nine-team women’s league took place between February 19-March 13. This year, however, the BCB is yet to settle on a schedule for either List-A tournaments.
In a coordination meeting held on March 2 with Women’s DPL teams, where six of the nine teams attended, three clubs wanted to play the league, while the others said that they will not participate without national team players’ involvement.
This year, BCB has decided to bar women’s national team players from the league keeping in mind their upcoming assignments, which includes the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, and the inaugural Women’s Bangladesh Premier League (WBPL).
“There is the World Cup in June and there is a Sri Lanka series coming up before that [in March-April]. The Women’s BPL [probable dates in April] is there too. So, the women’s wing has decided not to allow national team players to play the domestic league,” a BCB women’s wing official who attended the meeting told The Daily Star.
“We haven’t decided on the [women’s] league yet, we will talk to the high-ups before taking a decision,” the official said.
Meanwhile, many of the men’s DPL clubs are still continuing their boycott of domestic leagues over alleged irregularities in BCB elections which saw Aminul Islam Bulbul getting elected as the president in October last year.
“As clubs from the third division through to the premier division had collectively decided to boycott, we are sticking to it,” Rafiqul Islam Babu, councillor from Indira Road Krira Chakra told The Daily Star.
The crux of the controversy surrounding the BCB election was a letter signed by the BCB president Bulbul sent on September 18 to regional associations that nominated councillors from outside of ad-hoc committees, instructing them to re-submit the list.
The High Court ordered a stay for 15 days on the letter, however, later Supreme Court chamber judge stayed the HC order.
Mohammedan SC councillor Masuduzzaman told The Daily Star, “As long as this illegal board is here, the clubs will not play any domestic leagues… We are waiting for a decision from the courts.”
Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis (CCDM) officials said there is no hope of the league starting before Eid ul-Fitr.
“We haven’t been able to set a date for a coordination meeting. We had set dates of March 15 [to start DPL] but now nothing will happen before Eid,” an official said yesterday.
