Domestic cricket season to start with NCL
BCB prepares a draft calendar for domestic competitions
Sports Reporter
The cricket operations committee of Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) finalised a draft calendar for the domestic league in a bid to run all the important tournaments without any fuss.
In a meeting yesterday, they prepared the calendar for the next two years which is now up for the approval from the board. In the next board meeting, the calendar is expected to be endorsed, revealed the cricket operations chairman Naimur Rahman Durjoy, MP.
According to the draft calendar, the domestic season will be kicked off with the National Cricket League (NCL), which will be held in the two-tier system from this year.
The NCL will roll onto the ground from September 17 and will end on November 4. Thereafter, the third edition of Bangladesh Premier League will start, which will run from November 25 to December 25.
The franchisee-based Bangladesh Cricket League (BCL), considered as the premier first class tournament of the country will begin January 5 and keep going till February 20, while Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League (DPCL) will kick-start in March 11 and finish in May 9.
Given the tight international schedule, most of the national players are supposed to miss the large part of all tournaments but BCB is determined to run it sans the national stars.
The main agenda in todays meeting was to draft a calendar for the domestic cricket league. We have drafted a calendar for the domestic cricket competition but now we have to approve it. We will place it in the next board meeting for the approval, said Naimur Rahman Durjoy.
National players participation in the competitive league will be subject to their availability. We want to keep the domestic league in a place, where we have prioritized the NCL, BPL, BCL and DPCL. The other competitions will be scheduled on the basis of these four leagues.
BCB vice-president Mahbub Anam, and a bunch of directors IH Mallick, Jalal Younus, Abdul Awal Chowdhury Bhulu, Khaled Mahmud Sujon, Akram Khan and Nizam Uddin Chowdhury, CEO of BCB, who are important stakeholders in organising all of these tournaments, were also present in the meeting.
Actually we have to bring a balance amongst the important exponents of the availability of grounds, players, national commitments and umpires. We have prepared the draft calendar for the domestic league considering the above things.
Availability of the grounds will worry the BCB in fulfilling their ambitious plan of rolling all the tournaments in scheduled time.
We have competitions of the first division, second division and third division. So, grounds turn to be a big issue. We need more grounds ahead. If we keep a ground 60 days for a cricketing competition then it will be overused.
While the BCB would have little to think about organising the tournament like BCL, NCL or BPL, given the past experience, it wont be so easy to start the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League.
The clubs have always reservation about playing the league without the national players. But the time schedule of the DPCL will coincide with the World Twenty20 in India and Asia Cup.
Durjoy said they have adjusted the DPCL with the consultation of CCDM, the guardian of Dhaka cricket clubs.
It is the responsibility of CCDM. They will discuss with clubs. But CCDM has given many proposal and we have adjusted with them. We are thinking to run the domestic competition without our national players.
Well not do anything to disturb our domestic competitions. The national players will meet their national commitment. If selectors want to try or test any player through domestic league, we will accommodate him.
A domestic season of Dhaka Premier League have already been missed which BCB in the past vowed to readjust but Durjoy yesterday ruled it out saying that they have no alternative in adjusting the missing season.
We think this is the best option. We have no option to adjust the previous missing season. If we go to relocate it we will not make the calendar.
