The local cricketers are set to place a protest programme before the Bangladesh Cricket Board for immediate start of the Dhaka Premier League.
The players are expected to stage a sit-in in front of the BCB at 10:00am today and later ask the authority to take immediate steps to resolve the ongoing crisis as the uncertainty over the staging of DPL this year is looming large as some of the leading clubs refused to participate in it without the national players.
‘Players are coming to the city from different parts of the country to take part in the protest programme and raise their voice,’ Debabrata Paul, secretary of the Cricketers’ Welfare Association of Bangladesh, told reporters on Friday.
Several players also complained about the uncertainty of the DPL as they feel that not only they are losing the opportunity to earn money but it is also preventing them from showcasing their talent for staking a claim in the national team.
‘We want the player transfers immediately as it is competition for us in the DPL,’ said former national cricketer Alok Kapali.
‘Only 15 to 20 cricketers play in the national team while the rest of the players depend on it as it provides financial stability to them and a chance to perform for proving their potential,’ said Alok.
Tushar Imran, another former national player and a proven performer in the domestic circuit, warned that they would not hesitate to take long-term programme to make the BCB hear their statement as the delay is only complicating the matter.
‘We will stay at the ground till they do not listen to our demands whether it takes one or five days. It doesn’t matter,’ said Tushar.
‘15-20 cricketers aren’t everything, around 250 players play in the DPL, if there’s no cricket for a year, then how they will survive?,’ he questioned.
CCDM member-secretary Rakib Haider Pavel blamed the clubs for making this trouble as they had earlier agreed to play the league without the national players and even took the participation money provided by the BCB.
‘The clubs are to blame as they had initially agreed to participate in the DPL earlier only to change their decision later,’ said Rakib
However, Manzur Kader, president of Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club, who was the main initiator along with a few other clubs for postponing the league that was scheduled earlier as he did not have a sound knowledge about the issue.
‘I don’t know anything regarding cricket at the moment. Give me some time to find out,’ said Kader.
-With New Age input
