BCB removes Nazmul Islam as finance committee head after player boycott halts BPL matches

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has removed Nazmul Islam from his position as chairman of the board's finance committee following a player boycott that halted several cricket matches in the country on Thursday. However, he remains a BCB director pending a review that has been initiated by the board.

Two games in the BPL and four in the Dhaka Cricket League did not take place on Thursday after teams did not turn up for the toss, as CWAB, the players' body in Bangladesh, followed through on its threat of a boycott until Islam tendered his resignation for making disparaging remarks against the national team players.

After the Dhaka Cricket League games were hit by the boycott, the BCB issued a show cause notice to Islam, giving him 48 hours to respond. However, after the players boycotted both BPL matches - the first between Chattogram Royals and Noakhali Express at 12.30 pm local time, and the second between Rajshahi Warriors and Sylhet Titans at 5.30 pm local time - the BCB issued a statement removing Islam from his position as finance committee chairman but not as BCB director.

There was no clarity yet, however, about whether the boycott would be called off and Friday's matches would go ahead as scheduled.

"The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) wishes to inform that, following a review of recent developments and in the best interest of the organisation, the BCB President has decided to release Mr. Najmul Islam from his responsibilities as Chairman of the Finance Committee with immediate effect," the BCB said in a statement on Thursday afternoon.

"The decision has been taken in accordance with the authority vested in the BCB President under Article 31 of the BCB Constitution and is aimed at ensuring the continued smooth and effective functioning of the Board's affairs. Until further notice, the BCB President will assume the role of Acting Chairman of the Finance Committee.

"The BCB reiterates that the interests of the cricketers remain its highest priority. The Board remains fully committed to upholding the honour and dignity of all players under its jurisdiction.

"In this regard, the BCB hopes that all cricketers will continue to display the highest standards of professionalism and dedication to the betterment of Bangladesh cricket during what is a challenging period for the game, and will do their utmost to ensure continued participation in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL)."

Islam's comments against the players came as part of ongoing reverberations from the BCB's decision to not play matches in India at the upcoming T20 World Cup. The ICC event is co-hosted with Sri Lanka and the BCB, citing security concerns, has remained firm in not wanting to play games in India, a decision they made after the BCCI instructed the Kolkata Knight Riders to remove Mustafizur Rahman from their playing roster.

Before the BCB's decision to sack Islam was announced, the CWAB president Mohammad Mithun had held a press conference in Dhaka along with national team players Litton Das, Nurul Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mehidy Hasan Miraz, among others. The press conference, which was initially scheduled for 1pm local time just after the first BPL game was held up by the boycott, began after a delay.

"It is a matter of a cricketer's pride and self-respect," Mithun said, referencing Islam's comments about money. "It is not about cricketers only, but related to all those people involved in cricket. They have been disrespected. As the days have passed, he has gotten more disrespectful. He is trying to make cricketers feel smaller with every statement, starting with talking about their earnings. The statements he has made, as a person holding a position, he has no right to talk like that or say such things."

The players remained firm in their stance that they would not play until their demand for Islam's removal was met. "The discussion among the players has been that since yesterday night, we have been told 'procedure, procedure, procedure' at every step," Mithun said. "They had come with a solution but we didn't agree. After that, they wanted 48 hours for their procedure, so I spoke to the players and after discussion, our question is 'after 48 hours of time taken, if he doesn't resign, then too we will stop playing.' We have protested and therefore the first game today won't happen. If we even play today's second game, but after 48 hours if he is not removed, then ultimately the game will stop again.

"Now we will go only on one condition, and that is if BCB comes to you guys and gives a commitment that they guarantee that this man will not be part of the BCB within 48 hours, and if he is part of the BCB, then cricketers' decision to not play won't earn them any punishments. And that BCB will take all responsibility. If BCB officially declares this, then we will move ahead, we think. We have already told them this, but we haven't received such confirmation from them yet."