The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has launched an ambitious decentralisation initiative to take cricket beyond its traditional Dhaka-centric structure and make it more accessible across the country.
Leading this effort is new BCB President Aminul Islam Bulbul, who has spent the past week visiting regional hubs like Rajshahi, Khulna, Sylhet, Barisal, and Rangpur with his team. Following BCB’s third board meeting on Monday, Bulbul announced plans to establish ‘mini BCBs’ in major divisional cities as part of the decentralisation process.
Speaking to the press at 9:15 PM following a six-hour board meeting, Bulbul provided an update on the initiative’s progress.
“We’ve already completed about 20% of our cricket decentralisation plan,” he said. “All the relevant stakeholders are on board, and we are progressing accordingly.”
Bulbul’s core objective is to ensure that talented cricketers from grassroots levels across the country get regular opportunities to play competitive cricket.
“There is an abundance of talent scattered across Bangladesh. But if a young player from a sub-district doesn’t get the chance to play, how will their potential develop? And if there’s no qualified coach in a district, how will we identify and nurture talent?” he asked.
“To properly assess players’ abilities, we need to create more match opportunities,” Bulbul continued. “We plan to organise two-day matches for Under-19 and Under-18 squads, along with separate 50-over events. That’s why we’ve travelled across the country, and the feedback has been encouraging.”
The former Test centurion also said that the BCB has already completed the first steps in establishing local leagues in each district.
“Launching district-level leagues is our top priority,” Bulbul said. “We’ve been engaging with District Sports Associations. The ‘mini BCBs’ we plan to establish will oversee these leagues. In our structure, each region will have a designated Head of Cricket who will supervise district coaches. Under them, there will be dedicated commercial teams, media teams, and cricket development units.”
To ensure proper oversight at the grassroots level, BCB plans to install these ‘mini BCBs’ at the divisional level. District and sub-district coaches will operate under these regional bodies. However, these regional entities will not receive direct financial support from the BCB. Instead, a new funding model will be introduced.
Explaining the model in more detail, Bulbul said:
“We’ll introduce a funding system for the mini BCBs. They won’t receive money directly from the central board. Instead, they’ll generate funds through coaching, player development, or other cricket-related services. For example, if a region gathers 5,000 registered cricketers, they’ll qualify for a grant from BCB. If they can raise funds independently, BCB will offer double the amount as incentive. Each regional director will be responsible for oversight, but the day-to-day operations will be handled by the mini BCBs.”