As part of its decentralisation plan, the Bangladesh Cricket Board will hold a meeting of its board of directors in Sylhet today.
The meeting, which begins at 4:00pm, is expected to discuss a number of important issues including the appointment of national team management committee for the forthcoming Zimbabwe tour and the appointment of national team coaches.
More importantly it is expected to give the region’s cricket a much-needed impetus with all top BCB officials having a chance to meet the local organisers, sponsors and political leaders.
‘This is the part of our promise to decentralise the game. We have been planning for this for long, but could not make time really,’ Jalal Yunus, chairman of the media committee, told New Age over phone while on board a Sylhet-bound train.
‘We hope this will be just a beginning. In future we will hold a similar meeting in the other divisional cities,’ he said.
Asked how only a board meeting can help the game decentralise, Jalal said they are quite optimistic about the outcome.
‘You see, it will give the region a very crucial exposure. We are not going there just to sit and dine but to meet people so that we can understand their needs,’ he said.
‘Before the meeting starts, we will exchange views with the local stakeholders. We expect that the finance minister, Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, and city mayor Badruddin Ahmed will remain to present and give their views,’ he said.
Explaining their decision of choosing Sylhet as the venue for their first such meeting, Jalal said they believe this is an area where the game has a lot of potential and they want to explore it.
‘We have a plan to make Sylhet an international venue in the near future. Hopefully it will help us in this effort,’ he said.
Not every BCB director, however, was as excited as Jalal. Asking not to be quoted some directors said they are attending the meeting just because BCB president AHM Mustafa Kamal wanted it.
They put emphasis on launching the regional cricket bodies to decentralise the game instead of holding this kind of meeting, which in effect can turn into a picnic tour for the directors at the BCB’s expense.
-With New Age input
