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Club officials up in arms

Cricket

Sports Reporter
The chaos that have gripped domestic cricket in the country continued unabated as ten of the 12 participating clubs threatened to boycott the suspended Premier Division Cricket League if the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) failed to resume the competition immediately.
The club officials made the announcement in a hurriedly-called press conference at a local hotel where they also warned the authorities concerned that they will not release their contracted players for the coming Bangladesh Premier League (BPL)T20.
"We have only one desire — an uninterrupted league. You know the clubs have been spending huge money and they will face huge loss if they don't get an uninterrupted league and you cannot stop the league at your whim without discussion with the clubs,” said Manzur Kader, president of Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club.
“We can’t let go of this matter without any protest, which is why we have gathered here. We are in favour of playing cricket and our demand is very simple — resume the league immediately otherwise, we will boycott the league. On the other hand we have also
decided not to release our contracted players for the BPL and in that case the board must talk with us about our financial loss and risk of injury to the players if they particiapate,” said Shawkat Ali Khan Jahangir, president ofVictoria Sporting Club.
The ten top-flight clubs met in protest of BCB's decision to suspend the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League for an indefinite period though the Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis (CCDM) earlier assured them of the completion of the first round by February 6. Abahani and Mohammedan, however, did not join in the campaign though the other club officials confirmed that the two popular clubs clubs expressed their solidarity regarding release of the players for the BPL.
All of a sudden BCB's acting CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury issued a letter on Wednesday night where it said that BCB president AHM Mustafa Kamal, who was scheduled to return home last night after attending the ICC meeting, ordered the suspension of the league. Gazi Tank, who had a match against Abahani on Thursday, appeared at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur when they got the CCDM's letter at 10am.
Whispers were doing the rounds that the BCB president made the unexpected decision to fulfill the desire of Abahani, who were reportedly going to miss the service of two of their vital foreign players — Rajat Bhatia and Mithun Manhas. The chaos however started with the expulsion of Sutjo Torun Club, who failed to appear in the ground on time in the match against Kalabagan on Tuesday, which was followed by the resignation of CCDM chairman GS Hasan Tamim.
The angry club officials not only condemned the BCB’s decision but also came down heavily on the board's new venture, the BPL. The officials claimed that some vested quarters had arranged a business-oriented tournament like the BPL and they believed that this kind of initiative will only destroy cricket in Bangladesh.
“We have decided to take a tough stance against these vested quarters who didn't even bother to talk with the club officials regarding their new venture (BPL). But you know the clubs had been playing a pivotal role in taking the country's cricket where it is today,” said Manzur.
“The BPL has been arranged to bankrupt Bangladesh's cricket and to siphon off our hard-earned foreign currency. We have taken the decision to foil this kind of conspiracy against our cricket,"
added Manzur as he read the written statement during the hastily arranged press conference at a local hotel yesterday.
It was also said in some quarters that the league may resume today but the BCB’s acting CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury said that they were waiting for the return of their president.
“We are waiting for the return of our president. An emergency board meeting will be called to find an amicable solution. What I can say is that what hap-pened is unfortunate," said Nizamuddin.