Top players comment on NCL wickets

[Sham]

From the Daily Star:

Ispahani Mirzapore Tea 6th National Cricket League
No complaints about wickets
Sports Reporter

There may be a lot of things cricket authorities can do to turn the country's only first-class competition into a true professional one, but one thing has pleased the leading cricketers this year is the pitches.

With the completion of the sixth round the Ispahani Sixth National Cricket League already saw a flurry of hundreds and many believe it has happened because of good wickets, a long cherished demand from the players.


"We had a bitter experience of playing on wickets where the ball hardly bounced above the knee and at times rolled after pitching. But this year things have dramatically improved and I must admit we have played on some good wickets," said Dhaka captain Khaled Mahmud ahead of the seventh round that commences today.

"We have so far played six games in Bogra, Chittagong and Fatullah and they are really fantastic compared to what we had experienced last year," said the 32-year-old all-rounder.

The first six rounds of the first-class competition saw as many as 28 hundreds with the last round alone producing nine centuries.


Mahmud however was critical about the non-appearance of some leading national cricketers in the meet, but he was amazed at the fighting spirit some young players.


"It is unfortunate that some leading players did not take part for no valid reasons. But some young boys really seized the opportunity. I've never seen such a huge number of cricketers coming out with big hundreds," said Mahmud.


Although Mahmud did not point his finger towards any definite direction, he was understandably disappointed with his left-arm spinner and country's leading wicket-taker Mohammad Rafique.


Rafique vanished from the National League scene after playing in the first round.

Bangladesh skipper Habibul Bashar also echoed the voice of his predecessor, but also shouted for a few bowler-friendly wickets.


"If we want to play better cricket abroad we should prepare true sporting wickets. It is nice to see some good batting tracks but there should be something for bowlers as well," said the country's premier batsman and Khulna captain.


National wicketkeeper and Rajshahi captain Khaled Mashud also satisfied with the wickets so far.


"I have taken part in all the five previous National Leagues and I must say wickets this time are far better and that's why we saw a lot of big innings," said the ever-energetic stumper.


Mashud also appreciated the Board's idea of involving the national selectors in finilising the rosters of the six participating teams.

But Mashud urged for a better financial package for the players.

"This is the number one domestic cricket competition but to be frank we are getting less than what a Second Division cricketer is being paid," said Mashud.

Bashar was even brash in his comment.

"Why does a player has to take the League seriously where he gets only Taka 450 a day as appearance fee?"

[shujan]

Taka 450 per day?

Edited on, March 27, 2005, 9:20 AM GMT, by shujan.

[RazabQ]

I wonder what the average Ranji trophy player makes per day. Or the average Quaide-ajam player? Or sri-lankan 1st class equivalent. Should give us a point of comparison.

[mahbubH]

Ranji trophy players get about Rupee 35,000 per match. Remember BCCI is the richest cricket board in the world.

I think BCB will pay some money to the players at the end of the league according to the number of matches (OD=1, 4-day=2 matches) they have played. The amount of money is very small, it ranges from TK15,000 - 30,000.

I think NCL teams need some kind of sponsor, only BCB cannot pay all the money.

[Zephaniah]

I proposed this before. Why don't BCB let the biggest corporate houses sponsor NCL team. They can buy the naming right for a year. For example if GrameenPhone sponsors Rajshahi division then, for a year, Rajshahi division will be called as 'GrameenPhone Rajshahi Division' who may challenge 'Emirates Dhaka Divison' for the title!

[Fazal]

If Corporate sponsor NCL team for naming right of a particular team (instead of the whole tournament), BCB may loose some flexibility that they may have right now: for example pulling off national players adhoc basis, switching players in the middle of the tournament to balance the strength, etc..

If I am an executive of that Corporation, I would always make sure that I am getting my money's worth in return. Therefore Corporation wouldn't be interested if BCB doesn't commit their national players in the tournament. After all which executive would want to spend their money and associate their name with a team like, "Barisal Division" or "Sylhet Division", because of their strength and standing in the national league? For example, Sylhet may be a good team with their national players, but without them, its a weak team.

[Sham]

Don't want to steal your thunder but I also proposed this over two years ago in a thread titled First Class Structure in BD which was later used as a front page article. It might still be there in the archives. Anyway, it makes perfect sense doesn't it? And I can't even imagine that it will be all that hard to do. Tk 450 a day is a bit of a joke! You get Tk 1800 for the match, so you get 18,000 for the whole NCL, which lasts about three months!

[mahbubH]

Just a side note ... our umpires get about 12,000 per match in NCL! (Cannot give the source right now but it is true). See who is the boss!

[Sham]

Fazal, firstly, if this was to happen, the corporate sponsors would have no say in cricketing matters so BCB would not lose any flexibility. However, the question is, would corporate companies be interested? I don't see why not, even to sponsor Sylhet and Barisal. After all, they all play the same number of matches and get equal media time. Now, if because of their weakness, Sylhet and Barisal got to play less games (for example if there were semis and finals) then it would have mattered. Corporate companies are just trying to have their name said out loud everytime the division is mentioned. For them it doesn't really matter how well the team does because the team's performance is unlikely to affect them much.

Also, a company which is owned/run by a Sylheti will be more willing to sponsor Sylhet than say Dhaka. A lot of these corporate companies are owned by people who would rather sponsor their own division than one of the title aspirants. Its all about going to the right people and making the right pitch.

[aosaif]

is there tv coverage of the games?

[Sham]

No there isn't. Thats another thing they should work towards. Live coverage will probably not be watched by too many people, but if the BCB could get one of the private channels to show half an hour highlights of each game at night, they might get a lot of viewers. I'd watch for sure! Even 20 minute highlights of each game would be cool, an hours cricket every night when the NCL is on! The only thing is, the channels will need to send a camera crew, with atleast two cameras, one on either end to three different stadiums for an hour long program. Still, the BCB might be able to convince of the channels to do it! It would do wonders for the popularity of the NCL!

[chyicarus]

I totally agree with Sham- an extremely good idea. I think the private channels should make this progression and cover at least 30min to an hour of everyday highlights. This will bring about more fans of domestic cricket. A majority of our fans only support and view the national side's games- we need to promote our domestic teams as well.

[insideedge]

Originally quoted by razabq
I wonder what the average Ranji trophy player makes per day.

A Ranji trophy player gets Rs 32, 000 per match from BCCI. In case of Mumbai Ranji player, the earning is more because the Mumbai team sponsor also chips in a similar amount.
These figures may be somewhat inaccurate, but give a general idea of what a Ranji player makes. A few years ago though , these players were paid pittance.