Pressure on Bangladesh to sign new TV deal

Whereas TV deals are the lifeblood of most countries' boards, it has emerged that the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has not got one in place, even though it only has a little more than two months until it hosts a one-day series in November.

The previous five-year deal with ESPN-STARSport expired last April, and a committee was appointed by the BCB to conclude what were expected to be little more than the formalities of a new contract.

But a report in the Dhaka-based Daily Star claims that the committee has done little and the BCB has been forced to form a new body to get things moving.

"There was a long discussion about the TV deal," explained Mahbubul Anam, the BCB's general secretary, at a media conference. "The previous committee actually was not formalised that's why we formed a new one and we are hopeful that it will work hard to settle the issue as soon as possible, as we have only two months time."

"We can assure everybody that the new deal will be a transparent one because we will award the right in open tender. The committee will first appoint a law consultancy firm to negotiate the deal and it will also be appointed in open tender. We don't want to disclose anything about the deal at the moment."

The man taking the blame for the failure of the old committee to make progress is Reazuddin Al Mamun, the board's media chief. His name was a notable absentee from the new committee, but Mahbubul was unable to answer questions put to him about the reason for that.

"Now everybody is looking forward to see whether the present board under the leadership of Asghar will be able to sign a transparent deal or make a shabby one like the previous one," concluded the report in the Daily Star.