NCL triumph brings no revival for Sylhet cricket

Looking in from the outside, cricket in Sylhet seems to be thriving.

Sylhet division are the reigning champions of the first-class competition National Cricket League (NCL), earning their maiden title last season, and many players from this part of the country, like Zakir Hasan, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Nasum Ahmed, Jaker Ali Anik, Ebadot Hossain and Khaled Ahmed are currently representing Bangladesh in different formats.

But hidden behind the velvet robe of NCL glory and the honour of being a nursery for national stars is the bare skeleton of a cricketing system that is grinding to a halt, with pre-board election chatter overshadowing on-field stagnation.

The sorry state

After their triumph in the NCL in October, expectations were sky high regarding the sport's overall development in this part of the country. The region was crying out for infrastructural revamp, more competitive leagues and a structured talent hunt programme.

But the NCL silverware did not bring with it any of the desired perks. On the contrary, the last 12 months or so have been one of the most testing periods for cricket in this division.

In August last year, the National Sports Council (NSC) dissolved all divisional and district sports associations in the country following the student-led mass uprising that led to the ouster of the Awami League government.

Since June, an 11-member ad-hoc committee formed by the NSC has been running the Sylhet Divisional Sports Association, and the four districts under the division also have ad-hoc committees now.

But according to local organisers and coaches, the lengthy inactive period prior to the formation of the committees has stagnated the region's cricket.

"There was no programme or competition in Sylhet after winning the NCL title last season," Sylhet divisional team manager Ali Wasiquzzaman Chowdhury told The Daily Star on Friday.

"The [Sylhet] International Cricket Stadium is mainly engaged for the national team, first-class players and other programmes. But for the other players, there is no scope. The district stadium has to be shared with football, hockey and other sports," Ali said, detailing the shortage of training facilities in the region.

"Once there were cement wickets in every area in the town. But now, if you roam around the city, you will see only two to four wickets. The situation has changed a lot. In the last few years, the area-wise teams have vanished."

Ali also said that the Sylhet District Cricket League, the most prominent 50-over tournament in the region, did not take place last year owing to political unrest.

"Due to the situation in the country, the tournament didn't take place last year. In the last 35 years, this league has happened almost every year. We don't have leagues in Sunamganj, Moulvibazar and Habiganj districts. Sunamganj, Moulvibazar haven't had a league in 12-13 years. But still there are people who will go to the board as councillors without doing anything," he added.

Main focus on BCB polls?

Considering the lengthy inactive period, the primary focus of cricket administrators in Sylhet right now should be on revitalising the game.

However, the buzzword in the annals of Sylhet's cricket administration right now is the forthcoming Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) elections in October.

It is learnt that three members of the Sylhet Divisional Sports Association's ad-hoc committee -- Dr. Md. Enamul Haque Chowdhury, Rahat Shams and Enamul Haque Jnr -- are frontrunners to get the sole Sylhet divisional councillorship for the polls. Sylhet division head coach Rajin Saleh is likely to get the councillorship from the Sylhet District Sports Association.

"Previously, there was only one party. But now, there are many parties and the situation is different… As there are different types of pressure, the authorities will have to give it a lot of consideration before giving someone a councillorship," a local organiser said, requesting anonymity.

Sylhet will host the next BCB board meeting on September 1, and the divisional association will accord a felicitation to the NCL winning team on the seventh – both events will be attended by BCB president Aminul Islam Bulbul.

Some feel that these visits could be the perfect backdrop for settling the councillorship issues behind the scenes, but Sylhet division's ad-hoc committee member Rahat claimed that they are planning to capitalise on these events by getting the nod from the president on various development plans.

"We have divided the BCB president's 'triple century' plan into nine different segments at a granular level. Among them, coaching development, school cricket development, women's cricket development, regional cricket branding, sustainable fundraising and stakeholder management will be executed soon after getting clearance from the BCB.

"We will invite 350 people, which would include different stakeholders, during the reception programme. We will try to secure the cricketing resources required for the development of Sylhet cricket," he said.