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Sylhet's challenge to revive a rich history

Mazhar Uddin from Sylhet
Although Bangladesh's first Test against Zimbabwe starting on November 3 will make the Sylhet International Stadium the country's newest Test venue, the north-eastern
city has a history of producing top-class players for Bangladesh.
The list of cricketers from Sylhet who have represented the Tigers with distinction extend from Shafiqul Haque Heera and Golam Faruk Suru - both of whom represented Bangladesh in the early days - to Hasibul Hossain Shanto, Alok Kapali, Rajin Saleh, Tapash Baisya, Enamul Haque Jnr and Nazmul Hossain.
In that respect, Sylhet is not too far behind Rajshahi and Khulna - two regions known as the main hub when it comes to producing players forthe top flight.
Two pacers in the current Bangladesh Test squad - Abu Jayed and Khaled Ahmed - are the latest Sylheti additions to the Tigers' Test side while the likes of young Zakir Hasan and pacer Ebadat Hossain are also in the wings. There are also a few first-class cricketers from Sylhet such as Nabil Samad and Imtiaz Hossain who have stood out with their performances.
However, there are various reasons that have prevented Sylhet from producing cricketers of the highest class in recent times.
The Sylhet district sports association has an ad-hoc committee that has been running the show since 2014 and it is yet to form a full-fledged committee. The Sylhet league, which boasted the presence of former Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga during the early 1990s, has faded so much that it did not take place for two consecutive seasons between 2000 to 2010, during which it was also beset by irregularity.
A lack of grounds in Sylhet is also one of the biggest reasons for the region's failure to provide top-class players consistently.
The Sylhet International Stadium, which is also known as the divisional stadium, is the only venue in the region with proper facilities for cricketers to practise, but it is only available to national age-level cricketers and divisional players.
The District Stadium is the other major ground in Sylhet but it is also not accessible for certain periods of the year as football has taken precedence over cricket in recent times.
There were three more grounds in Sylhet where cricket was the main sport - the Alia Madrasa ground, the Eidgah ground and Abul Mal Abdul Muhit Sports Complex, all of which are now not accessible.
Alia Madrasa is now used for waz mahfil and other religious programmes while the Eidgah ground is now mostly used for trade fairs and even as a cattle market.
On the brighter side, however, there are also a few cricket academies which have been providing young cricketers the opportunity to learn the game.
Clemon Surma Cricket Academy in Sylhet - founded by former Bangladesh captain and local boy Raj in with the aim of returning the region to its cricketing golden days and producing players for the national team - is one of the prominent academies in the city.
"To be honest, there was only one cricket academy in Sylhet in the past and I thought about how young children who want to play this game can prepare themselves. At the same time there were not much players from Sylhet who represented Bangladesh after our batch. I started this academy back in 2008 from that mindset. This will be my last season as a professional cricketer and I think I will be able to give more time to the academy in the future," Rajin toldThe Daily Star yesterday.
Despite the lack of grounds in Sylhet, the academy is continuing to teach the youngsters the art of the game. They played a practice game among themselves at the MC College ground yesterday, each nurturing the dream to become the next Alok, Rajin or maybe even take the next step and become a household name.