Last night, the Cricketers’ Welfare Association of Bangladesh (CWA-B) announced a boycott of all forms of cricket, including the BPL. Despite multiple attempts by the BCB to reach a compromise, no resolution was achieved.
As a result, there is no chance of today’s first BPL match in the Dhaka leg—Chattogram Royals vs Noakhali Express—taking place. According to the schedule, the first game was supposed to start at 1:00 PM, with the toss at 12:30 PM. However, even after the toss time passed, no team appeared on the field. CWA-B will hold a press conference at a hotel in Banani at 1:00 PM. Noakhali head coach Khaled Mahmud Sujon and Chattogram team director Habibul Bashar Suman are also present, meaning their teams are part of the boycott. Consequently, today’s first match has been canceled.
Yesterday, BCB director and finance committee chief M. Nazmul Islam made several controversial remarks regarding the players. On the question of financial compensation if players fail to qualify for the World Cup, he said, “Why? If they go and perform poorly, and we spend crores on them, are we going to ask for that money back? Someone answer me this.” He also stated that any loss from missing the World Cup would not be the board’s responsibility.
Later that night, during a Zoom press conference, CWA-B president Mohammad Mithun announced the boycott of all cricket matches until Nazmul resigns.
BPL Governing Council secretary Iftikhar Rahman Mithu tried to negotiate with the players last night, but to no avail. This morning, the BCB issued a statement summoning Nazmul, but CWA-B remains firm in demanding his resignation.
