Dhaka Premier League to begin on July 1

The Bangladesh Cricket Board on Tuesday announced that the Dhaka Premier League, the country's most popular one-day domestic competition, would begin on July 1.

The decision was taken after BCB president Nazmul Hassan met with representatives of all Dhaka Premier League clubs.

"The player recruitment programme will take place on June 20 and the league will begin on July 1," Hassan said in a press release. "This was a unanimous decision."

The BCB has also revised the payment structure and will now follow a grade-based system in the 12-team league. "We are in the process of finalising the grades for the cricketers and it will be complete in 2-3 days," Hassan said. "I agree that the grading could have an effect on the value of a handful of cricketers, who may earn less than they did last season, but the majority of the players will be benefit from this categorisation."

In April this year, nearly 50 professional cricketers had staged a protest outside the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka over the delay in the scheduling of the league. The clubs had also refused to participate without national players who were then on the tour of Zimbabwe.