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Darkness beneath the glamour

Mazhar Uddin
With Bangladesh cricket gradually acquiring a measure of prominence at international level, the sport in the
country has mass appeal and is considered a viable profession by parents of budding cricketers.
But there is a dark underbelly to all the glitz and glamour. This duality is reflected in the game's governing body - the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) - which while overseeing the growth of the game, has also contributed to the darkness, run as it is by a small group of powerful people who have manipulated matters on and off the field.
Over the past two-three years, domestic cricket in the country - especially in the lower tiers -has been brutally vandalised. The powerful board members have been taking ownership of clubs in order to shore up their vote banks come election time, and they have tainted cricket by drawing favours from umpires and also by discouraging root-level talent through favouritism.
With even the elite Dhaka Premier League losing most of its charm and popularity, the level of uncertainty has worsened in the lower tiers. Yesterday, the second day of a two-day players' transfer for the Dhaka First Division Cricket League 2019-20 took place quietly at the Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis (CCDM) premises in Mirpur.
All 20 clubs participated in the players' transfer and a total of 195 players took part in what is a festive occasion for the country"s domestic players.
But the uncertainty was visible on Ali Hossain's face as he signed for Indira Road Krira Chakra.
Ali, who also works as an assistant coach at Mohammedan Cricket Academy and draws a small salary, had to play the second division league last season only for a better sum of money. However, he was left disappointed by his club Matuail Cricket Academy as Ali had only received half the agreed sum of Tk 3 lakh and eventually had to leave the club midway through the league.
An experienced campaigner who
has been playing club cricket for 12 years, Ali made a return to first division cricket but there are other experienced players who decided to quit the game and look for other employment opportunities.
"I am in my mid-twenties and as I have sacrificed my education to become a professional player, it is difficult for me to continue if my income does not increase. Last season, I played second division for better money and the club also had the intention to qualify for the first division initially.
"But when the club got to know just at the start of the super league stage that they are not going to
qualify for the first division league, the officials started to behave rudely with us. They were not willing to pay our remaining amount and eventually me, along with two other players, had to leave the team midway through the league," said Ali.
There is a term 'Shorkari Team' [indicating the clubs of the powerful people of the BCB], used by club-level cricketers in the recent past, that gets all the support from the organisers, be it through umpiring, which has been a regular feature in the first division league in the recent past.
The BCB however provides funding each year to all the participating clubs and this time each club got Tk 6 lakh for the upcoming season, but according to Indira Road KC team manager Abdul Mazid it is getting tougher day by day.
"Everything has changed as cricket is now becoming more of a corporate product with passionate organisers often being overshadowed. We try to hunt for players as well as organise club activities; a small area-based club like us get donations from the wealthy people of the locality," Mazid said, not willing to elaborate further.
With very little hope of drastic change in the upcoming season it will be interesting to see whether BCB president Nazmul Hassan will finally look to reform the entire domestic system or whether he will let the darkness continue to eclipse the glitz and glamour.