Akram Khan asks for change in selection procedure

Bangladesh chief selector Akram Khan has proposed a change in the BCB's policy that currently allows the board's technical committee to discuss the selectors' choices, following a delay in the announcement of the squad for the Zimbabwe tour. There is speculation that the delay is due to meddling by an influential director who is part of the committee, which has reportedly not gone down well with BCB chief Mustafa Kamal.

As is normal practice, Akram conferred with the five directors on the technical committee before submitting his team to Kamal (via the cricket operations committee) on Wednesday evening, but the final squad has not yet been announced - an unusual wait given the quick approval normally given by the board chief.

Akram denied there was interference from any particular director, but asked for a system that would hold the selection panel accountable for the team's performance, in place of the existing procedure. "We knew about this policy of talking with the technical committee when we signed the contract, so we have to abide by it," he said. "It would have been better if they could evaluate our performance after we had selected the team."

It is now not clear when the team will be named; with the committee's directors off to Sylhet for a meeting, it is assumed that a press conference is out of the question on Friday or Saturday. A press release is expected but only after the BCB's approval.

The remit of the technical committee, chaired by Enayet Hossain Siraj, is to discuss the squad with the selectors before it goes for board approval. The body was created during Rafiqul Alam's reign and has since been regularly condemned by local media for interfering with selection matters. There is widespread speculation that the committee impeded the previous selection panel on occasions, and even tried to force a change in the World Cup squad.