Cricketers call off their boycott
The national cricketers have announced that they had suspended their boycott programme following a fruitful meeting with Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) on Wednesday night.
The cricketers withdrew their strike as BCB authorities assured them to fulfill the majority of their demand.
Describing the meeting as a fruitful one, Bangladesh Test and T20 skipper Shakib Al Hasan called cricketers’ ongoing strike off from a press conference after meeting with BCB authorities at around 11:00 pm tonight saying they were happy.
The cricketers will return to the field on Saturday through the third round of the National Cricket League (NCL) which was deferred by two days.
The third round NCL was scheduled to begin on Thursday but the strike forced its deferment.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, BCB President Nazmul Hasan said steps will be taken within 2-3 days to meet the cricketers’ demands.
He, however, said they have nothing to do with the first demand for the resignation of the president and secretary of the Cricket Welfare Association of Bangladesh (CWAB) as it is an independent body.
About the demand to allow cricketers to play in more than two foreign leagues, he said it differs from man to man. “Decision will be taken considering the situation.”
About the two other demands of sharing the revenue the BCB generates with the cricketers and implementing all the demands for women cricket as well, the BCB chief said they were yet to receive the demands.
Nazmul said the national camp of the Bangladesh team for the India tour will begin as usual on Friday.
Earlier, the meeting started at the BCB office at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium around 9:30 pm on Wednesday night.
Bangladesh national cricketers went on an indefinite strike on Monday to press home their 11-point demand.
Later, on Wednesday evening the cricketers placed a 13-point demand afresh in a press briefing held at a city hotel, saying they were ready to sit with the BCB to discuss their demands.
Supreme Court lawyer Barrister Mustafizur Rahman Khan came up with the information while briefing reporters.
Earlier, the BCB informed the media that they are up to talk to the cricketers to reach a solution.
On Monday, the cricketers placed an 11-point demand and announced that they will not take part in cricketing activities unless their demands were met.
These demands include immediate resignation of the president and secretary of Cricket Welfare Association of Bangladesh (CWAB), returning to the previous model of Dhaka League, and the BPL from the next year, increasing the match fee in the first-class cricket to 1 lakh from present Tk 35,000, hiking the salaries of the national cricketers, local coaches, physios, trainers and groundsmen, arranging more domestic cricket events, fixing stable domestic calendar, clearing cricketers’ dues for the Dhaka League and ensuring cricketers’ opportunities to play more foreign leagues.
