More hype than substance

The only disappointing aspect of last month's Bangladesh-England Test series was that in both Dhaka and Chittagong, Bangladesh cricket's two most seminal matches were being played out in front of crowds that fell well short of even half the capacity of the stadiums.

But three days after the conclusion of the Test series the 'entertainment' started with the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), the first leg of which ended on November 14 with a stretch of 13 matches over seven days. With the cricket circus moving from Dhaka to Chittagong, it is hard to avoid the impression that entertainment, no matter how reliably one may expect the whizz-bang form of T20 cricket to supply it, cannot be foisted upon a paying public.

he crowds for BPL matches so far have been considerably less than the turnout for the old-fashioned Tests. The reasons are actually varied, ranging from the format of the tournament, quality of cricket, and the very concept of the BPL.

The oft-expressed wish of the administrators to see this tournament rub shoulders with the two pre-eminent T20 franchise leagues in the world -- the Big Bash League in Australia and the Indian Premier League -- is both instructive by contrast and damning by comparison. The Big Bash, in its last edition in 2015-16, held 35 matches over 38 days at eight different stadiums spread out over six cities. This edition of the BPL will feature 46 matches over 31 days (original schedule was 35 days) in two stadiums in two cities. Four of those days are travel days between two cities, so you basically have 46 matches over 27 days.

While Bangladesh do not boast Australia's riches in venues, there are still five other viable options in Fatullah, Bogra, Khulna, Sylhet and Cox's Bazar. Those are seven stadiums for seven teams and that may foster brand loyalty, the absence of which may have a lot to do with the underwhelming response from the public.

Security measures in these troubled times is the stated reason for limiting matches to just Dhaka and Chittagong, but that does not stand up to scrutiny as even in the last edition it was thus, with Khulna featuring as a third venue only once in four editions, in 2013.

It is not just the public who will be suffering from cricketitis instead of enjoying the much-feted 'cricket-ainment', the players and pitches stand to be affected negatively too. In the first week, all franchises except Rajshahi Kings were required to play on consecutive days -- not a recipe for maintaining high standards of cricket. When rain caused a four-day delay to the start of the BPL, Dhaka Dynamites captain Shakib Al Hasan was actually thankful for the break not just because it gave the national players a longer breathing space after the England series, but according to the all-rounder it gave his team of disparate individuals greater time to bond.

He also worried about the pitches; what the constant play would do to the quality of the surfaces in Dhaka and Chittagong -- a concern vindicated by the string of low-scoring matches in Dhaka.

The thinking behind the tournament has also too often been characterised by 'on-the-fly' adjustments like the last-minute change to the semifinal line-up in the first edition, and the eleventh-hour schedule rejig after the first two days were washed out this time, even after the first two matches ended with points shared.

Last, but not least, is the player-by-choice system by which squads are formed prior to the start of the tournament that hampers the franchises' ability to strategise and form the team that they want and instead have to rely on luck.

A tournament like the BPL comes with a fair amount of festivity, but when the action starts it resembles a hastily arranged tournament that is being played for the sake of hosting a lucrative event. Unless its deep-seated flaws are addressed and corrected, it is hard to see how the BPL can live up to the hype.