Long break looms for cricketers

Ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan and pace sensation Mustafizur Rahman may be busy with their respective commitments abroad for the next few months, but for the rest of the country's cricketers, the next time they are likely to take part in competitive cricket may well be after a gap of two months.

According to Bangladesh Cricket Board's (BCB's) chairman of cricket operations, Akram Khan, the board as per its domestic calendar has decided to host the Bangladesh Cricket League (BCL), the country's premier four-day cricket competition, in September.

“Since the BCL is the most competitive competition we have in the longer format, we have decided to host it before the start of the Test series against England. It is scheduled to begin on September 20 as per the current calendar,” Akram told The Daily Star yesterday.

“A few rounds of the tournament will take place before England arrive. After that the national players are expected to get busy with the England series and the domestic players will continue playing the BCL,” he added.

According to the current itinerary, England are expected to arrive in Bangladesh on September 30. If everything goes according to plan, they will begin with three ODIs in October and then play two Tests.

This means that the national players may get to play at least one round of the BCL before the England series.

Apart from that, the board is also in the process of finalising a second-string side for an A tour. It's still not certain as to which country Bangladesh A will tour, but there is one on the cards.

The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), the country's coveted T20 tournament, will follow the BCL in November. Many franchises have already begun working on their teams and other staff members.

After the BPL, the national players are scheduled to leave for New Zealand in December where they are scheduled to play three ODIs, three T20Is and two Tests.

While the national players will be busy with the New Zealand tour, the domestic players will be busy with the National Cricket League. The four-day competition is scheduled to begin on December 17.

And finally the season is set to end with the National Cricket Championship (NCC) scheduled to begin in March.

The NCC is a one-day tournament that is played between teams from the different districts of the country and is generally held outside Dhaka.