‘I can’t work under syndicates’: Syed Ashraful wants a fair shot at BCB presidency

From the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) to the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), Syed Ashraful Haque has successfully made his mark everywhere he has worked in his storied career as a cricket administrator. One of the key architects behind Bangladesh's Test status, Ashraful has been overlooked in Bangladesh cricket in the last decade. The former national cricketer wants to devote his twilight years to the game he loves the most and wants to complete his unfinished work in Bangladesh cricket. Recently, Ashraful talked to The Daily Star's Samsul Arefin Khan regarding all this and more. The excerpts are as follows: 

The Daily Star (DS): You have recently expressed a desire to become the BCB president...

Syed Ashraful Haque (SAH): I'm interested, provided there is no interference or there is no influence from the government. If there is any, I don't think I can go there. Secondly, it has to be a completely free and fair election. I have heard about a syndicate at the BCB and some of them have 20-30 clubs of their own. I don't have the financial capability of getting their votes through money. I don't think I can succeed in that. But if there is no free and fair election, I don't think there is any reason of holding the election.

DS: Since you expressed your desire around one month ago, has there been any development in this regard?

SAH: Since my announcement, there is no update yet. Few people have come to meet me and they are genuinely good people. I said to them, "You guys also should be directors." I can say they are club people. But nobody has formally told me that they would give me a councillorship.

I know getting councillorship isn't the biggest thing. I know I will get it. But if there is any kind of syndicate, it will not be possible for me because they know if I become BCB president, the whole thing will change. I have run very big institutions. I joined the cricket board in 1983 and at that time, we had no money. But still, we did so many big events like the Asia Cup, the mini World Cup and the Asian Test Championship. Now you have the money so you can do better things. You can also improve the quality of cricket here.

Now, there is almost everything fixed as the matches are played according to the FTP [Future Tour Programme]. You can do one or two bilateral series in a year alongside the FTP. So, you should concentrate on improving the quality of cricket you play, the quality of the facilities and improving the facilities. If you can run those, you will automatically get results.       

DS: For many years, there were discussions about you joining the cricket board after you left the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) job in 2015. What has driven you to want this right now?

SAH: Personally, I think I have come to the last stage of my life. I have come to the twilight of my life. The kind of experience I have and the way I ran things before, I think I did really well. Working in an organisation like ACC for 14 years at the top, with India and Pakistan also being there, wasn't an easy thing. Both the countries are always at loggerheads and you have to go by managing all these things. Because of the interest and experience, I want to give my last four to five years for the development and upliftment of cricket in Bangladesh. If I can do it or manage to start the plan, I can die with a smile on my face thinking that I have accomplished it in my lifetime.

DS: There are many directors in the cricket board who have been here for 10-15 or even more years. Many of them will contest in the next election as well. What's your thought on that?

SAH: You should ask them what their achievement is in the cricket board in 25 years. I work for cricket because I love the game, played the game and was also an organiser. I spent all my life on this. I earned my living on this. So, I want to give back something. If you look at the past, I was involved with major events in and outside Bangladesh. What did they do?

DS: Many have raised the issue of your non-involvement in cricket in the last 10 years…

SAH: I wasn't allowed to come [in the last 10 years]. Everyone is now saying that there is an opportunity to come back and I really want to take that opportunity. Previously, there was no chance and I wasn't even contacted once. They have to pick my brain and they have to ask me. They didn't even send me tickets to watch matches, which I was entitled to. As an ex-general secretary of the board, I was entitled to get tickets but they never gave me any.

DS: What will you prioritise if you get elected as the BCB president?

SAH: The first thing I will do is establish financial transparency and accountability. I will put the BCB's financial reports on their website. Secondly, make amendments to BCB's constitution. Thirdly, improve the facilities. I will try to buy grounds so that we don't need to depend on others. Finally, the duration of the president and the directors, like the president can't be elected for more than two times and directors can't be there for more than three times.

DS: You probably missed decentralisation…

SAH: Sorry, I forgot to mention that. Decentralisation is one of the main things. I will put it before the financial matter. It will be my top priority. Decentralisation has been on the cards since 2000. During the AGM in that year, it was discussed that there will be regional bodies.

DS: Everyone has talked about decentralisation but it hasn't come to light yet, why?

SAH: Actually, nobody wants it to happen. Everyone wants to be Dhaka-centric. Nobody wants to give the power. If you got the time, ask Bulbul [BCB president Aminul Islam Bulbul] whether Ashraful bhai had the sole power in the ACC or he distributed it to all when he was the ACC general secretary. You have to distribute it. You can't keep everything, you can't be a fascist, you can't be a dictator. The board president is the captain of the team. But he is not a dictator. He has to give power, otherwise, you can't function. You aren't running only the clubs. You are also running the whole country's thing. How can one man do it? It's not possible.

Previously, we were totally dependent on the NSC [National Sports Council]. With the amount of money they gave us, we had to organise cricket all over the country throughout the year. How could we do that? You need to say that only if you organise the league every year, we will provide you the money but there has to be also compliance. The full details of the expenditure has to be reported to the authority. Now the local organisers don't have the interest as they know that they can't improve the thing. Neither does he have money nor does he have the authority. So why should he spend his time?

DS: There were talks about constitution reform while Faruque Ahmed was at the helm. But he couldn't do it due to the strong opposition from the Dhaka clubs. Do you think of doing anything similar?

SAH: Clubs play a vital role. If Dhaka clubs can play a vital role, Rajshahi and Chattogram clubs can also do it. We talk about Dhaka clubs because most of the players play here and they get most of the money. I'm also a product of a club. I'm the product of Azad Boys Club both as a player and an organiser. I think there must be a win-win situation between the relationship of the BCB and the clubs. There should be a formula so that both parties can take the benefit. I think the clubs must have the creditability and they must be genuine. They should not be formed only for the vote. I can't neglect the contributions of the clubs. But they have to be genuine clubs. There are questions regarding the payment of the players and it hampers the image of the country's sport. This has to be straitened out. I can't understand why we can't follow the other nation's cricket models.   

DS: What do you plan to do in the BCB which has not been done in the last few years?

SAH: Decentralisation will be No. 1. I will try to improve the facilities. We have very inadequate grounds. We need at least 50 grounds in Bangladesh where we can play first-class cricket. We don't need to have stadiums. It's only grounds, dressing rooms and the other minimum requirements. The more grounds you have, the better the number of players will emerge. We have to improve the standard of the coaches, umpires and curators as well as all the support staff including physio and scorers.