Bangladesh gets new four-day competition

A new four-day cricket tournament called the Bangladesh Cricket League will kick off on December 27. The franchise-based tournament will be played between four teams, split by regions.

Walton Central Zone, comprising players only from Dhaka Division and Dhaka Metro, Prime Bank South Zone (Khulna Division and Barisal Division), Islami Bank East Zone (Sylhet Division and Chittagong Division) and BCB North Zone (Rangpur Division and Rajshahi Division) will take part in the competition. Three of the four teams have been bought by companies but the fourth, North Zone, will be run by the BCB because it had no takers.

The BCB has not yet initiated the process of obtaining first-class status for the BCL. The National Cricket League (NCL) still remains the country's only first-class competition.

The national selectors have picked 80 cricketers for the franchises to choose from, specifically from their regions. The tournament will be held at two venues, Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur and the Shaheed Chandu Stadium in Bogra, and will run till January 11. The rest of the tournament will be completed after the BPL.