Representatives of the BCB are likely to meet Asif Mahmud, the youth and sports adviser of Bangladesh’s interim government, on Sunday to discuss the upcoming women’s T20 World Cup, scheduled to be held in the country in October. The bigger talking points in Dhaka’s cricketing circles, however, is who among the main officials will remain in the BCB, and whether the new government will reform the board, too.
In case a new board is put in place, the ICC will ask the BCB to appoint a representative to attend all ICC meetings. When a committee of administrators appointed by the Supreme Court of India took over the BCCI’s administration some years ago, the CEO attended ICC meetings on the BCCI’s behalf.
The BCB, however, cannot function properly without its board of directors, especially with an ICC event looming. Speaking anonymously to ESPNcricinfo, a BCB director said very few of his colleagues are expected to show up in the coming days.
“The BCB is an elected body but if there’s any directive from the government about a change in the BCB, we have to accept it,” he said. “I don’t think many directors will appear in the BCB. If a meeting is called, the number could be five or eight [out of 24].”
Another board director, also requesting anonymity, said the main concern was the women’s T20 World Cup. “The BCB board is still there. We will hopefully get a guideline from the government, possibly tomorrow, when the board is supposed to meet the new sports adviser. We are not worried about ourselves but we have a few events coming up, like the World Cup.”
BCB directors ‘had their own agendas’
While the World Cup is a short-term issue, there are bigger problems in Bangladesh cricket that have remained unanswered for a decade and a half. Bangladesh remain a low-to-mid-table team in men’s cricket and have enjoyed very little success at major ICC events. Their only major success was the Under-19 World Cup win in 2020. The men’s team failed to win any of its Super Eight matches at the recent T20 World Cup, and won just two of its nine matches at last year’s ODI World Cup.
“If they were true servants of cricket, they would be here. I don’t think they were serving cricket,” he said. “They had their own agendas, which they tried to implement. We have seen what they did to cricket, whether it is club cricket or BPL. They have spoiled the whole thing.
“BCB is not a disciplined organisation. I have seen it from up close. BCB never made the best use of its opportunities. Some made intentional mistakes. We have to reduce the indiscipline within the BCB. Only then we can tackle every crisis.
“The buck stops with the leadership. If that was fine, the rest sits in place. If we are going to talk about reform, we have to think about ICC’s governance policy. We want a BCB whose vision will allow us to dream big. There has to be transparency and accountability. We have a lot of people who can do this.”
Fahim is one of several high-profile voices, including former national players Mohammad Ashraful and Imrul Kayes, who want change in the BCB. There is growing consensus among fans, too, that the BCB must fall in line with the new government’s mandate for reform.
Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo’s Bangladesh correspondent. @isam84
