The Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis (CCDM) announced on Sunday that the next edition of the First Division Cricket League will begin on 18 November. However, many participating clubs have expressed dissatisfaction with the decision, claiming their request to defer the league was ignored.
CCDM held a meeting with 20 first division clubs on 22 October, which all but three attended. During the meeting, the committee informed the clubs that this year’s competition would start in early November, reversing the recent practice of holding the third division league first.
According to Amber Sporting Club’s cricket secretary, Ziaur Rahman Topu, most clubs opposed the proposed schedule. “We said that our league ended in March and asked how can we play again in the first week of November. Majority of the clubs were not in agreement,” he said.
Topu added that the situation escalated when Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) vice-president Faruque Ahmed attended the meeting. “Later Faruque bhai showed up in the meeting and said it was the board’s decision. I said, ‘Why did you call us to the meeting since you could have just notified us by a letter? Since you won’t listen to us, why call the 20 clubs and why all this preparation?’” Topu said, adding that he left the meeting in protest.
In response, CCDM chairman Adnan Rahman Dipon insisted that most clubs had agreed to the proposed start date. “Verbally, maximum clubs wanted to play. Officially, they should send a letter because it’s the board’s decision, I am just a subcommittee chairman,” he said.
Topu, however, claimed that only clubs with directorship in the board supported the schedule, while the rest proposed a December–January window. He also said that around 45 clubs across divisions plan to send a letter to BCB president Aminul Islam Bulbul before the first division league’s players’ transfer window on 5 and 6 November.
