Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful expressed concern about club cricket's uncertainty this season.

At a press conference organised by Cricketers’ Welfare Association of Bangladesh (GWAB) yesterday, the ace batsman said that almost 90 per cent local players would suffer if the legal trouble was not settled soon.

"I hope we can have a solution. 'There must be a way to end this problem before it gets out of hand for us cricketers," said Ashraful, who flies out to New Zealand this afternoon.

He continued, "They (players) look after their families with the money earned through league cricket. For the national team players, it is fine because we have financial security but we arc only a few among the large number of cricketers."

A division bench of High Court ordered a two-month slay on any further activities of the Premier Cricket League following a writ petition signed by Brothers Union last month, but Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis (CCDM) had announced Premier and First Division League’s players’ transfer to begin on January 8.

"We talk about development all the time and there is no other way to develop without playing a lot of cricket. There will be a huge impact on cricket if there is problem with the league," said Ashraful's predecessor Habibul Bashar.

He however praised the latest improvement in CWAB, saying that its more structured approach and affiliation with Federation of International Cricketers' Association (FICA) has made it a better platform for the national players as well. Ashraful agreed, saying that CWAB will take their side in certain matters.

CWAB convenor Debabrata Paul also assured that within the next 15 days, there can be some developments in this matter.

If the legal wrangling continues, the transfer date has to be postponed and as a result, the cricket will be held back. And with the leagues set for a late-January start, there is danger of a complete no-show, leading to a situation last seen in 2004.