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DPL to begin at long last

A chance to grab national team spots

Sports Reporter
The country's cricket-Wers' long wait for some WALTON cricket action will ™^«EmB^i finally end today as the Dhaka premier Division Cricket League, which has seen multiple postponements over the last seven months, kicks off at three different venues across the country.
Victoria Sporting Club will start their title defence by taking on newly-promoted side Kalabagan Cricket Academy at the BKSP while Gazi Tank will face Khelaghor Samaj Kallyan Samity at the Shahid Chandu Stadium in Bogra. Brothers Union meanwhile will meet Prime Bank Cricket Club at the Shahid Kamruzzaman Stadium in Rajshahi.
There has been disappointment among players over this year's new payment system and rain may play a disruptive hand, but the start of the league comes as a sigh of relief for the cricketers as for a majority it is the chief source of cricket and income.
The repeated delays may however be a positive for the national selectors ahead of next month's home series against New Zealand, who will arrive in the capital on October 1 to play two Tests, three ODIs and aT20I.
"Unfortunately the players had missed the opportunity to show us something
during the A team's tour of England and we were also looking to the Under-23 players ahead of the home series, but the reality is that we are now looking forward to the league. We will closely monitor the performances of the players in the league because some of the positions in the national team, we believe, are wide open," said chief selector Akram Khan yesterday.
"We have five-six settled players in the team but the number two, three and four positions are up for grabs. We have some problems with the pace bowling. So this league is a big opportunity for some players and we hope the players try their best to seize it. We will consider the league performances for both the Test and ODI series," he said, adding that they would like the players in contention to play as many matches as possible.
Akram said that the focus would also be on Mashrafe Bin Mortaza to see how the pace spearhead responds to competitive cricket after bowling impressively in the just-concluded three-day practice match in Khulna. Mashrafe, will however play no earlier than September 12 when his new club Mohammedan take on Prime Doleshwar at Bogra.
Abul Hasan, Shahadat Hossain and young prospect Taskin Ahmed have been
suffering from injuries and it has created an opportunity for young Al-Amin to draw the attention of the selectors, who already impressed with his performance on the England tour.
Batting-wise Shahriar Nafees, Naeem Islam, Marshall Ayub, Jahurul Islam, Anamul Haque, Rokibul Hasan, Mominul Haque and Shamsur Rahman will be under the scanner with three batting positions, according to Akram, wide open.
The new transfer system have ensured a semblance of balance between the teams as Kalabagan Krira Chakra netted star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, who is nursing his finger injury and is likely to play the league only after September 18.
The evenly-matched state of the teams means that all the dubs are looking to foreign recmits, of whom three can be fielded in a match, to make the difference.
Considering the weather, a reserve day has been kept for every round and CCDM (Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis) chairman Jalal Yunus said yesterday that they have taken full preparation to cover the field during rainfall.
It may be the most important domestic competition, but the BCB has conferred it List A status for the first time this season, after nearly 39 years of the league's existence.