The Bangladesh Cricket Board is set to start its election process from August 4 and will ask the National Sports Council to initiate its preparation, BCB president Nazmul Hasan said on Friday.
The decision is a major step forward for the long over-due BCB election, which had been stalled due to an ongoing legal battle but was recently cleared to proceed by the Supreme Court.
‘We will send a letter to the NSC on the next working day to prepare for the election,’ Nazmul told reporters at the BCB National Cricket Academy premises after meeting with members of the Bangladesh A team ahead of their tour of England.
‘We will ask them to prepare an election commission and complete all the formalities required to hold an election,’ he said.
‘We hope to make a voter list to send to the NSC within seven to ten days after the after the Eid vacation as we will ask for the councillorship on the first working day after the Eid,’ he added.
The ad hoc committee chief remained tight-lipped regarding his candidacy for the presidential post but took a swipe at members of the Divisional and District Sports Association after they threatened to boycott the election and other sports activities if there was any interference in selection of councilors.
Nazmul angrily questioned Forum – a platform used by the members of the Divisional and District Sport Association to raise their voices – and asked why they were concerned with the BCB election.
‘What is Forum?’ Nazmul asked, ‘Is it an election of the DSA? Why are they worried about my BCB’s election?’
‘I recently saw two DSA leaders on TV, but no cricket has been played in their districts. It seems now they want to become directors of the BCB,’ he said.
‘I welcome people who have contributed or have a chance of making a contribution to cricket,’ he added.
Nazmul also spoke about the Bangladesh Premier
League, stating that the BCB will launch the next edition before the start of the ICC World Twenty20 as it will help their preparation to host the latter in 2014.
When asked how he hopes to launch the third edition of the BPL, the cash-rich Twenty20 event that has received more attention for non-payment issues and the reluctance of the franchises to respond to BCB calls than it has for the on-field product, Nazmul said ‘If needed, we will stage the BPL ourselves. But one thing is for sure; if anyone wants to play they will have to make advance payments because we have suffered for believing them [in the past].’
‘I have doubts about whether they came here for the love of the game or with other profit-driven motives. I will give them one last chance before taking stern action against them,’ he said.
Apart from the Dhaka Gladiators and the Chittagong Kings, every BPL franchise has received a temporary termination for failing to clear accounts with the BCB.
-With New Age input
