[Sohel]

BCB hit by resignations
Staff Correspondent

Shakil Kasem, the head of management committee of the GP-BCB National Cricket Academy, stepped down out of frustration on Saturday night, dealing another blow to the activities of the Bangladesh Cricket Board.

His resignation came in less than a week after the media manager of the BCB, Rabeed Imam, quit having been humiliated by the Board officials, who dropped his name at the eleventh hour from the West Indies-bound Bangladesh squad for the ICC World Twenty20.

Former cricketer Kasem took over the charges of the GP-BCB Academy only eight months ago and his resignation came at a time when it has been involved in a home series against South Africa academy side.

Kasem, however, said he will continue in the post until the end of the series.

‘I have submitted my resignation to the chief executive officer of the BCB last night [Saturday]. However, I intend to continue until the end of Academy Cup,’ Kasem told New Age.

‘You can say I have resigned out of frustration. The BCB has not allocated any money to run the routine function of the academy despite my repeated requests. I don’t see any point in occupying a post if I cannot make any contribution,’ said Kasem.

Replying to a question the former cricketer said the money sponsor Grameen-pone gave to the BCB to run the academy is being spent on cricket competitions and training programmes.

‘At the moment we do not have any permanent coach for the academy. There is no equipment in gymnasium and medical and IT centres. I have repeatedly requested the BCB to allocate money for the purposes. But nobody listened to me,’ he said.

‘Many reputed foreign coaches like John Embury and Roger Harper were interested to join our academy as head coach. But I could not speak to them as the BCB did not allocate any money. Recently we were given Mohammad Salahuddin as a coach but now he also has been taken away,’ said Kasem, who was appointed for a two-year period.

Meanwhile, BCB spokesman Jalal Yunus said the resignation may have some link with a recent decision of Board meeting.

‘In our last meeting we decided to reconstitute the management committee of the academy. This may be one of the reasons for his resignation,’ said Yunus, chairman of the BCB media committee.

‘It is also one of the reasons for a delay in budgetary allocation. We were waiting for reconstitution of the management committee,’ he said.

TDNA LINK

This is what happens when you have semi-literate former mastans turned money laundering crooks running the board. GP money intended for the Academy was siphoned back to their former marketing head now with ATN as "investment" in the NCL T20.