We will play only after our demands are met: Mithun
Bangladesh cricketers will continue to stay away from cricket unless their demands are met by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), Mohammad Mithun, president of the Cricketers’ Welfare Association of Bangladesh (CWAB), told the media today.
“We have been discussing many issues with the BCB, but didn’t get any solution. We are now hopeless. Cricketers play the game for pride,” Mithun said at a press conference in the afternoon.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. The presser was called by the players after they decided to boycott all forms of cricket unless BCB director M Najmul Islam, who made derogatory comments about cricketers last night, resigned.
Cricketers did not turn up for today’s first Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) match at 1:00pm between Chattogram Royals and Noakhali Express, and Mithun told reporters that they will continue to stay firm in their stance of boycotting the game unless their demands are met.
“We will only play after they meet our demands. We wanted to have closed-door meetings to solve the issues, but they didn’t take any initiative,” Mithun added.
Aside from the Najmul issue, the cricketers also brought up recent unresolved issues -- including the exclusion of nine players from the BPL on suspicion of misconduct, the Dhaka First Division Cricket League, women’s team all-rounder Jahanara Alam, and the facilities of the women’s cricket team -- during the presser that was attended by around 70–80 cricketers, including players from the national team and some from the first division.
The controversy stems from comments made by Najmul on Wednesday evening in Mirpur, where he said that the board owes no compensation to players if Bangladesh miss the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup, set to begin on February 7 in India and Sri Lanka, arguing that the BCB has never sought refunds from cricketers after poor performances at global events.
“The question [of compensation] does not even arise. We have invested so much on them; they haven’t been able to achieve anything, anywhere. Have we won a single global trophy till now? Then we could’ve said every time, you have failed to perform, whatever we have spent on you, now we will take it back. Return it to us,” Najmul said.
After such comments from a board director, CWAB president Mithun said yesterday that such remarks have “hurt the cricket fraternity greatly, and it’s not acceptable.”
The cricketers demanded his resignation before the first BPL game today, but with no progress in that regard, they continued their stance of boycotting cricket.
“We are still in the same stand. Everything has a limit. He has crossed everything. I didn't find any respect for cricket from his words,” Mithun added in today’s presser.
Mithun also relayed that they have not been able to make any contact with BCB president Aminul Islam Bulbul. "The most unfortunate thing is we couldn't communicate with Bulbul bhai,” he said.
Meanwhile, Najmul had recently courted controversy after labeling former Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal an “Indian agent” in a social media post, after the cricketer had urged the board to consider the interests and future of Bangladesh cricket during its communications with the ICC to relocate World Cup matches from India.
CWAB had asked for an apology to Tamim from Najmul at that time, and according to Mithun, that made the BCB director “more desperate.”
“We told him to say sorry, but he became more desperate. He can't make such comments.
"We don't think he should remain in this position. We also previously did a press conference for his remarks. We are confused; as a cricket board director, what does he want to do?” Mithun added.
Mithun, however, said an immediate reaction from the board could set everything back on track for everyone.
"They wanted to OSD him. Then he was given 48 hours to explain his situation. First match cancelled. We want to play from the second match if BCB confirms that he will be removed from the position,” the wicketkeeper-batter said.
The second BPL game, between Rajshahi Warriors and Sylhet Titans, is scheduled for a 6:00pm start at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, where the big screen showed a message in the afternoon that "efforts were being made to resume the game as soon as possible".
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