A pitch in despair

Cricket lovers in Nilphamari were left in shock as a week-long fair organised at the district's 'Boro Math', one of the main playing fields of the town, left the cricket pitch in tatters.

The fair, which took place from August 11 to 18 and was organised by the forest department, left holes on the cricket pitch that the local sports organisers laid with lot of effort and care. 

“Our plan was to make a cricket ground here and as a first step we had made this pitch which met the national standards. Now all our plans have gone haywire,” said a disappointed Nilphamari District Sports Association General Secretary, Arif Hossain Moon.

According to the secretary of the district cricket umpire's association, Arifuzzaman Milu, specialised groundsmen were called from Chittagong and the soil was brought from Bogra in order to create this pitch. “We worked really hard for making this pitch. It came at a very high cost and it took us two months,” exclaimed Milu.

The fair, inaugurated by Cultural Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Noor, not only heavily damaged the pitch but also left the ground ridden with garbage and bricks.

While the fair was successful, the end result was an anti-climax, especially because it was an environmental programme. It dealt with the saplings of fruity, woody and medicinal trees.

When enquired about the issue, Nilphamari's municipality councilor, Anisur Rahman, who was in-charge of a sub-committee responsible for the ground's decoration said that protecting the pitch was never a concern for them.

 “The district authority chose the site including the cricket pitch for arranging the saplings fair and accordingly we encircled the area with corrugated iron sheets and made around 100 makeshift stalls. There were also different amusement rides for children,” said Anisur.

“Owners of nurseries, shops or rides can dig the surface as per their needs, be it the ground or the cricket pitch, in order to make their stalls. It's up to them. It is not my headache to safeguard the pitch as the authorities have selected it,” he added.

However, the convener of the fair arrangement committee, Ershad Habib, who is also the ADC of district collectorate, admitted that they had committed a mistake.

“It was a big mistake by us. We shouldn't have harmed the cricket pitch. I assure you that all the repairs will be made soon,” he said.

Furthermore he said that they lacked information regarding the event and that that was due to a failure of the forest department.