"I am surprised seeing my name involved in this. I only came to know about the agency (Aston Moore) last October when two of their representatives, an Indian and an Englishman, visited the ACC office," Ashraful told reporters yesterday.

Ashraful, the chief executive officer of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), is now in Dhaka to spend his Eid holidays.

The former national cricketer and the kingpin of the first-ever TV deal between of BCB and WorldTel that expires next April also expressed his discontent about the Asghar-Aston Moore deal that The Daily Star broke last week.

He admitted that two representatives of Aston Moore met him in October and tried to give him the impression that they were maintaining a wonderful relationship with the BCB.

"The two young men visited me sometime last month to talk about the sponsorship issues. They tried to give an impression that they have a very good relation with the BCB and did an excellent job as their media service provider during Bangladesh's tour of England. But I still have no idea why they came to me.

"Actually I can't understand why the board would need the help of such a little known company. If they want to make any deal, they should go to well known agents like TWI or Nimbus who have good track records," he opined.

Ashraful also felt that no organisation needs any marketing agency as negotiator for a TV deal.

"You don't need any mediator even for evaluation of the market. It is not a big issue and pretty simple. Any member of this board can do this on his own. The main thing is to determine a floor-rate that is how much the board expects from a deal. Then you go for open bid and accept the best one," he said adding that the ACC's floor-rate for the next Asia Cup was 12 million dollars.

"We are getting much more than that," he informed.

"Moreover, why should someone start talking about this before the FTP (Future Tour Programme) is finalised? When the FTP is finalised, one would know about their international commitment and then it would be easier to do the evaluation. I think that Bangladesh would get a better deal if India, Australia or England make more trips to the country.

"I also do not support short-period deals because in that case, when teams like Zimbabwe or West Indies will be touring, no one would be interested. To get more money, the key is to play more home series. It would also be more profitable if the Indian team is involved because they attract the sponsors most."

Ashraful also thought that the BCB should appoint a CEO as soon as possible because 'handling these matters are difficult for amateurs'.

"Nowadays one country has to play nearly eight Tests and 15 ODIs a year. So, the job is demanding. I think the CEO should be local. If I can successfully hold a post at the ACC, why wouldn't a Bangladeshi be able to do it here? Instantly, I can give ten names who are capable of doing this job."