BCB president completes one-year in office
Bangladesh Cricket Board president AHM Mustafa Kamal will complete his first year in the hotseat today that drew mixed reactions from country’s cricket fraternity.
Kamal, a ruling party lawmaker and chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on the finance ministry, was appointed BCB president on September 23, 2009, nine months after his party assumed power.
Expectation was high of Kamal as he was the first BCB president in many years with some organisational background. He took office after 17 years as the chairman of Abahani cricket committee, which made him a popular choice for the coveted post.
But his first year in the job was marked with more controversy than success, said the former cricketers as they had expected a qualitative change in cricket administration during his tenure.
‘To be honest, I would not say he did very badly, but I had more expectation from him,’ said former Habibul Bashar.
Kamal first hit the headlines when he overtly criticised the national cricket team at a programme that forced the then skipper Sakib al Hasan to react, which was very embarrassing for him.
National batsman Roqibul Hassan also left him in an embarrassing position by prematurely retiring from all cricket apparently in protest at his interference in selection for the ICC World Twenty20 and the one-day series against England.
Bangladesh as a result missed the services of in-form Roqibul in the subsequent Test series, which was also not free from controversy as the host Board decided against using the Umpiring Decision Review System.
Sakib blasted the BCB, who spent a huge amount of money in receiving the then ICC president David Morgan, but was not generous enough to open its coffers for the UDRS that cost the hosts a possible Test win.
Kamal was also lately embarrassed after leaking the name of Lance Klusener to one of his media friends as the new bowling coach of national side keeping the others completely in dark.
Klusener finally denied taking up the post, which was another blow to his reputation. During his time, the on-field performances of the national team was also poor, although they managed to complete the circle of beating all Test-playing nations by overpowering England in the second ODI at Bristol in July.
The tour, however, ended on a sour note as Bangladesh lost to two ICC associates members, Ireland and the Netherlands, in two ODIs.
The performance of Bangladesh Under-19 team was also frustrating in the last one year as they failed to qualify for the Cup stage in the ICC Under-19 World Cup, held in New Zealand, despite showing a high promise.
This was an area where former skipper Roquibul Hassan saw a serious lapse.
‘In the last one year, cricket certainly has gone forward. But for more positive result the management must focus on developmental activities where a lot more I expected,’ he said.
Kamal, however, has had some success in his first year, which the former cricketers said will bear fruit in near future. One of his major successes was completing the appointment for key posts like chief executive officer, chief financial officer and bowling and fielding coaches of the national side.
In his time, the BCB introduced the franchise-based NCL Twenty20 League, which took cricket to a buzz, albeit for a brief period.
Asked about his time as BCB president, Kamal refused to make any comments and said he will share his feelings with the media in a press conference, tentatively on September 28.
