BCB eyes post-World Cup slot for BPL

The BCB is planning to host the third edition of the Bangladesh Premier League early next year, slotting it in between the World Cup and the IPL. Earlier, the board had suggested holding it later this year but overdue player payments are still dogging the tournament, and its governing council is now seeking legal advice as to how to recover various pending claims from the franchises.

"We had December 2014, April 2015 and November 2015 as options," BCB president Nazmul Hassan said. "The board thought that it won't be wise to hold a Twenty20 tournament in December this year as it will be right ahead of the one-day World Cup. So we have decided April is the best option."

The BCB had nominated itself as the guarantor for player payments ahead of the second edition of the BPL last year, but according to Hassan, there is still a fair amount left to be paid to the players, even while the board is seeking unpaid money from the franchises and the tournament's event-management company.

"The board, as the guarantor of payment to both local and international players, will pay the money at the earliest," he said. "But this doesn't mean that there is any room for the franchises and [BPL's event-management firm] Game On Sports to relax. We will get into legal action against the franchisees in a day or two in order to realise the debts.

"On the other hand, we have formed a five-member committee which will be responsible to talk to Game On Sports or their representatives, and provide the board with a report within 15 days."

The last reported player claim was on February 28 when Netherlands' Ryan ten Doeschate, West Indies' Kevon Cooper, Zimbabwe's Brendan Taylor and England players Ravi Bopara and Jason Roy said that they were still due money by Chittagong Kings.