The Bangladesh Cricket Board is markedly changing its stance with respect to meeting demands of its cricketers, flouting one promise after another since agreeing to the players' 13-point demand during the strike of October 2019, reports Cricbuzz.
Neither has the board raised the salary of the first-class cricketers nor have they increased the numbers of national contracted cricketers as was demanded by the cricketers during their strike. BCB can take certainly take this route considering they did not have any written agreement with the players when both parties settled the matter amicably after the promise of improved pay packages among others.
BCB increased the salary of the centrally contracted cricketers as well as the match fee for first-class cricketers, but at the same time a large section of players, chiefly the first class cricketers, are yet to receive the said raise in the salary.
"We settled the matter on verbal commitments and on good faith but if they don't keep their commitments there is nothing we can do actually," a cricketer told Cricbuzz on the condition of anonymity.
"We have no problem to comply with what the players want," Nazmul had told reporters after the meeting that saw the cricketers call off the strike. At that time, the resolution helped BCB avoid a huge embarrassment considering it paved the way for their tour of India to commence in November as per plan.
Players joined the national preparation camp that they intended to boycott ahead of the India tour while they also took part in the National Cricket League (NCL), the country's traditional first-class tournament, that was stopped after two rounds following the revelation of the strike by the cricketers.
Bangladesh's then Test captain Shakib Al Hasan, who led the strike from the front, said that he had been happy with the outcome after the meeting. "The board promised to resolve all the matters one by one very soon. I hope they will do it in the quickest possible time," said Shakib, who later that month received a one-year ban by the ICC for failing to report corrupt approaches by a bookie.
However, five months later, cricketers are not sure whether their demands will be met, although they acknowledge and appreciate BCB's recent decision to financially support the non-contracted cricketers during this ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, which has indefinitely postponed the Dhaka Premier League.
BCB announced after 15 days of the strike that they have raised the match fee and other allowance by a significant rate, stating that the match fee was raised to TK 60,000 from TK 35,000 for cricketers in the first tier in NCL while cricketers placed in the second tier of the NCL will get TK 50,000 instead of TK 25,000 along with increases in travel allowance, daily allowance and accommodation.
However, BCB have not increased the salary of the first-class cricketers despite agreeing to the demands that it be raised by 50 percent. "The BCB told that they accepted all the demands. Then this also should be implemented. BCB can say about it well. Our demand was to increase the salaries by 50 percent. Match fees, various allowances were increased but the salaries of first class cricketers were not increased," confirmed a first-class cricketer.
National cricketers demanded that the national contract list should be increased to 30 cricketers during placing their demands last year. But in a dramatic U-turn BCB refused to increase the number of contracted national players significantly when they announced the list of contracted cricketers for year 2020.
"We cannot include everyone in the national contact. We don't want to give anything to anyone for free. Players must work hard for their money," BCB cricket operation chairman Akram Khan told Cricbuzz, justifying the board's decision.