Ashraful's domestic ban set to be lifted

Mohammad Ashraful's ban from professional cricket will be partially lifted on August 13, allowing him to resume playing at the domestic level in Bangladesh. However, the former Bangladesh captain, who has served three years of his suspension for involvement in match-fixing and spot-fixing in the 2013 Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), will only be eligible to play international cricket from 2018.

*BCB cricket operations chairman Akram Khan later confirmed that Ashraful would not be allowed to play the BPL for another to years. "Ashraful can play domestic cricket but not franchise-based T20 tournament for the next two years," Akram said.

In 2014, Ashraful's initial eight-year ban was reduced to five years, with two years suspended subject to his participation in a BCB or ICC anti-corruption education and training programme. Accordingly, Ashraful took part in an anti-corruption programme and, during the 2015 BPL, appeared in awareness videos shown to players and officials.

A BCB press release in September 2014 had stated that "upon production of a certificate of good conduct from the ICC, he will be eligible to return to cricket on or about August 13, 2016". Once the ICC issues the certificate, it is understood that Ashraful will be allowed to resume first-class domestic cricket in Bangladesh as well as non-first-class domestic cricket in other ICC members' jurisdictions from August 13.

BCB chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury said the board was seeking clarification from the ICC on what types of domestic tournaments Ashraful would be eligible to participate in. On whether Ashraful would be able to play franchise-based domestic tournaments in Bangladesh, Chowdhury said, "We have sent a letter to the ICC regarding Ashraful's issue and we will get to know about the details by Sunday. There are a few aspects which we need to know."

The BPL's anti-corruption tribunal had, in June 2014, banned Ashraful for eight years and fined him Tk 10 lakh (USD12,500 approx). In September that year, the ban was reduced to five years, with the last two of those years a suspended sentence. The BCB and ICC unsuccessfully appealed against the ban reduction.