‘Only the injured will be excused’

The 21st edition of the National Cricket League (NCL) is set to begin from October 10 and, at least inferring from the Bangladesh Cricket Board's (BCB's) stated plan regarding the first-class tournament so far, it can be expected that this edition will see the start of a more intense brand of cricket.

It now seems that the board will be a bit sterner in ensuring the participation of national team players in the domestic league, the implementation of which has been long due.

"The instructions are given. If some players have any injury concern and cannot play then it is different. But other than that, all [national] players are instructed to play. Liton [Das] and Shakib [Al Hasan] might not be able to play the first game [as they are playing the CPL] but the other players who are available will have to play. And what I see is that the players are actually very eager to play this time as we will be entering the Test Championship from the India tour [in November]," BCB selector Habibul Bashar told The Daily Star yesterday.

Wickets not being sporting enough in the domestic circuit has also been an issue in previous years. This time however, Bashar hoped for better wickets that would aid both pacers and spinners while the batsmen would also be able to enjoy themselves after some hard work.

"The wickets outside Dhaka last year -- such as in Bogura and Rajshahi -- were green in the beginning. And sometimes, it is also good to prepare spinning tracks as it seems like we are forgetting how to play spin. So, there should be one or two spinning tracks as spin is our strongest suit. And I hope that we will be getting some green wickets in the beginning. All these instructions are already given to groundsmen so I hope that it will be a lively season," added Bashar.

Fitness levels, especially in longer-version cricket, has been problematic and Bashar said that 'it sometimes happen that players struggle on the fourth day'.

Addressing this, the BCB had announced an increase in fitness level requirements -- a leap from last year's required score of nine to 11 this year as the minimum beep test score for players in order to be considered -- last month. Although the BCB seemed to have backtracked from their hard line after criticism from some senior players, the initiative did see improved numbers in the overall fitness of players.

Bashar informed that the BCB may consider some senior players with a score of 10 or 10.5 this time around, but the board will be stricter in the future in this regard as they are set to instil a new culture in Bangladesh cricket.