The Dhaka Premier League reached an unexpected anti-climax before its Eid break when the match between Brothers Union and Cricket Coaching School was postponed after the latter arrived late on Tuesday. Brothers Union appealed for a walkover when CCS arrived just ten minutes before the scheduled start time. The fate of the match will be decided in a crucial meeting between the Cricket Clubs of Dhaka Metropolis standing committee, the umpires committee and concerned authorities responsible for drafting the by-laws.
The decision will be crucial for CCS, who could be relegated if found guilty of not arriving at the venue in due time, as stipulated in the DPL playing conditions.
‘We will sort out the matter when the league resumes after the Eid break,’ said CCDM secretary Rakib Haider.
Sources close to the CCDM confirmed that match referee Sami-ul Hasan had submitted his match report letter explaining the situation, but no decision could be taken based on his recommendations as there were no specific clauses cited in his report.
The match was expected to start at 9:00am and the teams were required to arrive 45 minutes before that
time, as per the league by-laws, which also allow for a 30-minute grace period. CCS arrived at Fatullah at 8:50am.
‘We arrived late at the ground because two buses collided at the Shanir Akhra in Zatrabari. The accident did not just put us into trouble; the other match officials also could not arrive as early as they are expected,’ said CCS secretary Iqbal Yusuf Chowdhury.
‘The match referee asked the two sides to start the game at 9:30 am and called the two umpires to do the toss 15 minutes earlier. My skipper was ready for it, but the Brothers captain did not bother to pay any heed to his request,’ Iqbal said.
‘Later we came to know that Brothers had appealed for a walkover.’
A similar incident happened in the last edition of the DPL, when Surjo Tarun could not come to the field on time against Kalabagan Krira Chakra because of traffic trouble.
They were later expelled from the league after Kalabagan KC made a request similar to the one Brothers are making. The decision made then by the CCDM and the BCB was considered to be unjust towards Surjo Tarun, according to many cricket officials.
Brothers manager Amin Khan confirmed that they had appealed for a walkover and believed that it would be accepted as they had followed the by-laws before making the decision not to send their skipper out for the toss.
Some Brothers officials vented their anger at match referee Sami, who arrived at the field with the CCS bus. They said that this would naturally compromise his neutrality.
-With New Age input
