Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president AHM Mustafa Kamal on Monday broke his silence two days after his return from abroad but he turned up only to provide some pointless answers to the recent burning issues and controversies surrounding him.
Everybody was expecting some clear explanations from the BCB boss regarding some issues like the interference in the team selection, the former cricketers’ campaign to uphold their councillorship rights in the BCB constitution and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s concern over the current crisis, but in the end his answers in no way cleared the air.
Rather Kamal, a ruling party MP, came up with his usual vague answers like “I will do everything in the greater interest of the game”, “I believe in transparency”, etc. But there was a surprise in store when he said that the councillorship rights of the former players had not yet been abolished in the new amendment.
“As far as I know there is nothing in the amendment to show that it has been abolished. How that right will be upheld has not yet been determined. The best decision will be taken in the greater interest of the game, so there is nothing to be worried about and there is no scope for anybody to think that he has been removed from the councillorship,” responded the BCB chief when asked about the former cricketers’ campaign against the recent constitution amendment and the prime minister’s concern over this issue.
He was not prepared to clear his position regarding the controversy over team selection which triggered the resignation of chief selector Akram Khan, who later withdrew it following a meeting with the prime minister and neither regarding whether he had any discussions with the premier over the current crisis.
“In my absence there were some news published out of context. As a human being I may have some flaws but whatever I did I did for the good of cricket. And I have faith in myself that I did my job perfectly. Please don’t ask any question about the issue of team selection and any player because I will clear everything after this event (Asia Cup),” said Kamal.
He was however quick to shy away from his promise as he made a contradictory statement over the procedure of the team selection. “True, the selectors will select the team and it’s a normal practice everywhere but the board is not a rubber stamp and I’m also not thinking of myself as a rubber stamp. In the end it is the board which has to take all the responsibility,” he defended his role in the controversy over his interference in the team selection.
It seemed that the BCB president, who reportedly expressed his satisfaction over the security arrangements in Pakistan during his recent visit with the security team, changed his stance about Bangladesh’s proposed tour to Pakistan as he said: “First of all, I am waiting for the security team’s report and we will inform ICC once we get it and after that we need the government’s permission.”
He also threatened that Bangladesh will not tour Pakistan if the ICC fail to maintain standard practice regarding the issue of sanctioning neutral match officials. Kamal rubbished the ICC Chief Executives’ Committee’s (CEC) recommendation to the ICC Board; that granting of the special dispensation of non-neutral match officials to participate in the matches would be justified.
-With The Daily Star input
