Ready to play from Friday if Najmul apologises publicly: CWAB
Cricketers’ Welfare Association of Bangladesh (CWAB) said on Thursday night that players will return to the field if Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) director M Najmul Islam apologises and the process regarding his directorship continues.
“We have informed the BCB that if he apologises publicly and the process regarding his directorship continues, we will be ready to return to cricket from Friday,” a CWAB-issued press release said.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. It was also relayed that the cricketers reconsidered their previous stance of boycotting all forms of cricket unless Najmul resigns in the “greater interest of cricket”.
“We are continuing discussions among ourselves regarding the ongoing complications in Bangladesh cricket. Through our discussions, we, the cricketers, have realised that our women’s national team are currently playing in the World Cup qualifiers in Nepal, the men’s national team have the T20 World Cup ahead of them, and the men’s Under-19 team are currently taking part in the World Cup. The impact of suspending all forms of cricket could affect all these teams.
“We also consider the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) to be extremely important. Therefore, in the greater interest of cricket, we have reconsidered our earlier decision,” the press release added.
Earlier in the day, the BCB removed Najmul from his responsibilities as chairman of the board’s finance committee following a wave of protests by cricketers.
“We welcome the decision to remove BCB director M Najmul Islam from the finance committee. Since he has been served a show-cause notice and the BCB has sought time due to procedural reasons regarding his directorship, we want to allow that time. However, we expect that the process will continue.
“At the same time, as director M Najmul Islam made derogatory remarks about cricketers in public, we expect him to offer a public apology,” the press release read further.
The issue stemmed from comments made by Najmul on Wednesday evening in Mirpur, where he said that the board owes no compensation to players if Bangladesh miss the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup, set to begin on February 7 in India and Sri Lanka, arguing that the BCB has never sought refunds from cricketers after poor performances at global events.
Cricketers did not turn up for today’s two BPL games in Mirpur -- the day game between Chattogram Royals and Noakhali Express and the night game between Rajshahi Warriors and Sylhet Titans.
BCB director and media committee chairman Amzad Hossain earlier told The Daily Star that the fate of the tournament was in limbo, mentioning that if the teams do not arrive, the tournament is likely to be “postponed indefinitely”.
There are two BPL games scheduled for tomorrow -- Dhaka Capitals vs Rangpur Riders at 2:00 pm and Chattogram Royals vs Rajshahi Warriors at 7:00 pm -- and it seems the players will be returning for the matches.
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