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No league for whole season in Bang

Monday, May 17 2004

The Dhaka cricket league is the only money spinning cricket event in Bangladesh. This year it didn’t take place thanks to some unscrupulous board and club officials. Read more about the goings-on in the Bangladesh cricket scene…

The Dhaka cricket league is the only money spinning cricket event in Bangladesh. As many as a thousand cricketers earn their living through this league. But this season, the league did not take place. This was an unprecedented incident in the history of Bangladesh cricket. Let us look at the reasons why a board that administers a Test playing team could not manage to run the most important league.

It all began with the U-19 Cricket World Cup at the start of the year. Most thought that giving time to this tournament was imperative as the reputation of the nation was at stake. The tournament began in the middle of February. But before that, the board and the Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolitan (CCDM) were quite or too busy with the handling of the World Cup. It is better to say now that the members of the CCDM are the representatives of all 1st division and Premiere League clubs of Dhaka. And almost half of these members hold some sort of a post in the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) or worked for the ICC during the World Cup. This being said, the cricket board or the CCDM officials were expected to put up a date for players transfer. That was given a week after the World Cup begun, for a possible week in mid-March.

When the World Cup ended with all the euphoria of a success for the board as well as the country, the cricketers were getting ready for the transfer date. But then, the date got shifted for the start of April. Alarm bells started ringing when the first meeting of the CCDM officials broke off. It was reported that only two or three clubs agreed to ‘play’ the league. But the rest stated inadequate funds and possible inclement weather as excuses not to play the league.

Five meetings later, the league was cancelled for this season. Apparently the members of the CCDM played a dual game. At the CCDM meetings with the BCB, they agreed to play the league, but when they got back to their clubs, they were agreeing with their club officials not to play the league. This might sound confusing, but as it is a small cricketing circle, word spreads fast and by the middle of April, the league was postponed completely and a further league date was set for November.

As a matter of compensation, the board arranged a first ever Corporate League. The league is almost ending now but it was far from being a compensation for the thousand cricketers who went without pay for a whole year. Only thirteen corporate houses took part in the tournament that didn’t have any fan following or glamour.

In Bangladesh, the Dhaka league is the only platform to judge the capability of a player. The pressures of club cricket are immense and there is a clear incentive for winning. A good season for a batsman can see him in a top club by the next season and that further strengthens his career.

The situation has drawn a lot of flak from local observers and the media took part. The only cricket program on local TV took the board officials to the cleaners. But none of it would bring back a full season of cricket. Even then the likes of Abdur Razzak Raj and Faisal Hossain are now in the National team thanks to the National League which incidentally also did not happen because of lack of sponsors.

Posted by Isam