BCB in war with Warriors

 

Bangladeshi cricketers, have alleged that the Bangladesh Cricket Board has been trying to block them from practising at a rented city ground. The BCB has barred Warriors from using the grounds and practice facilities owned by it and its affiliated organisations after the Board had slapped a 10-year ban on the cricketers for joining the ICL.

The Warriors have approached the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology to rent its playground and the university authority, which is not affiliated to the BCB, readily agreed.

‘The BCB did not care to use the ground in the recent past. But once we rented it, they came with money and asked the BUET to allot to them. But we are thankful to the BUET as they did not bow down to any pressure,’ said Monjurul Islam, a Dhaka Warriors cricketer.

 The BCB officials denied the allegation and said they had no interest in taking possession of the ground. ‘We have a Memorandum of Understanding with the Dhaka University. So we knew for sure none else would be able to use their ground. But we did not have any idea about the BUET ground,’ said the BCB’s grounds committee member Tobarukul Islam Arif.

   ‘Last year we tried to use the BUET ground for lower division matches. But they demanded Tk 15,000 per match, so we had lost interest in using the ground. And still we do not have any interest. The Warriors – or any other team – use the ground, it’s totally up to the BUET,’ said Arif.

   The Dhaka Warriors began their practice on Monday with Monjurul, being one of the senior cricketers of the side, supervising the activities. The captain of the ICL franchise, Habibul Bashar, is currently in Kolkata to play for the Dhaka Club team, so Monjurul took over the charge.

‘We don’t have any coach at the moment and we don’t feel it is very necessary. The ICL authority gave us a routine for practice and for physical fitness, which we are following. The captain will take care of the rest,’ said Warriors cricketer Shahriar Nafees.

Apart from Nafees and Monjurul, only Tapash Baishya, Farhad Reza and Golam Mabud joined the practice session. Mohammad Sharif and Mosharraf Hossain are also in Kolkata with Bashar while Aftab Ahmed is planning a trip to Singapore for treatment. The other cricketers will join the practice from Tuesday, said Nafees.