The Bangladesh Cricket Board has planned to re-organise the format of the National Cricket League, the lone first-class competition of the country, in spite of protest by the cricketers.
According to the new plan, six divisional teams will meet each other in the preliminary round before the top four teams advance to the next round. The two teams that were last in the preliminary round will meet in a play-off match for places.
Previously the teams faced each other on the home-and-away basis and the top team in the points-table was awarded the trophy. The BCB officials found the format not competitive enough and decided to change it.
‘We have noticed in the previous seasons that the title, on a number of occasions, was decided long before the competition ended, making the last few matches virtually irrelevant,’ said Hafizur Rahman, the member-secretary of the tournament committee.
‘But with the new format, the league will be far more competitive as the teams have to go all the way through to win the title, and thus the players will have to be serious in every game,’ added the official.
But the Cricketers Welfare Association of Bangladesh said the new format will reduce the number of matches and thus reduce their earnings. The lesser number of games will also have a negative impact on the future of the country’s cricket.
In a letter to the chairman of the tournament committee, they demanded that the plan be dropped and the existing format be continued.
‘We sat with the leading first-class cricketers and the six divisional teams, who all thought that the new format would be suicidal for cricket and cricketers. The reduced number of games will not help either of them,’ said Debobroto Paul, a senior CWAB official.
However, the BCB officials brushed aside their apprehension and said it would rather be beneficial for them.
‘We are planning to increase the match fees for the players in the second round. So financially they will not be losers despite the reduced number of games. The increased match fee in the second round will make it important for the players,’ said Hafiz.
He also said the reduced number of matches would not have any negative impact on the country’s cricketing future as the BCB has planned to begin a separate competition for the top six clubs of Dhaka.
‘Previously we had 30 first-class matches in the National Cricket League. This year it will be reduced to 23. But if we count the number of matches of the CCDM Cup, the total number of first-class matches will be increased to 40 this season,’ Hafiz pointed out.
The proposed new format will also help the BCB to accommodate the CCDM Cup in the calendar, believed the officials. ‘We have a limited number of grounds and there are also other domestic competitions. So we are not in a position to afford such a long NCL tournament like the past,’ he said.
The NCL is likely to begin on October 8. The BCB has prepared a draft budget of Taka 4.21 crore, which is almost the same it was in the last year.
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