BCB puts its constitution reform committee on ice

The BCB has put its constitution reform committee on ice in the face of an ongoing boycott by the Dhaka clubs. The city's second-tier competition, the Dhaka First Division Cricket League, has been suspended since January 14 with the clubs refusing to play.

Their protests stem from reports that the BCB's constitution reform committee submitted a resolution to reduce the number of BCB directors nominated by the Dhaka league from 12 to four. There has been no formal announcement, by the BCB or the committee in question, of such a move. It would require a change in the BCB's constitution to do this, and it would need to be approved at the board's annual general meeting.

Either way, the BCB announced on Saturday that it is going to take a look at the committee's scope of work and terms of reference.

"The board decided to postpone the constitution review committee's activities," BCB director Mahbubul Anam said. "This committee could be changed or expanded at a later time. The rest of the activities will take place only after their scope of work and terms of reference are prepared. The terms of reference will be on how they will make the necessary changes to the constitution, how they will do it by involving stakeholders."

Anam said that the reports of the committee submitting any resolution were unsubstantiated. "They never submitted any proposed changes to the board president or anyone in the board. We have also heard that they didn't submit anything to the National Sports Council. Many of the changes spoken about isn't also correct.

However, he said, the BCB wants the whole process to be more transparent. "The BCB directors feel that the process has to be clearer. There's no secrecy about the constitution. It is a public information. We want to suspend their activities to stop such discussions. The board feels that stakeholders must be involved so we need change and expansion."

The BCB also announced the names of the board directors who will lead 21 out of its 23 standing committees.

Nazmul Abedin Fahim was announced as the head of the men's cricket operations committee and the women's wing. Fahim had threatened to resign from the BCB's board of directors after a rift with BCB president Faruque Ahmed, centred around Nazmul wanting to head these two committees.

Faruque himself has been named chair of the board's marketing committee. Akram Khan, Mahbubul Anam and Fahim Sinha have also got roles as chair of various committees.

The BCB has instructed the various newly appointed chairs to form full committees for each of their posts over the next two weeks.

The heads of the BCB's working committee and security committee will be named later.