BCB XI, A-team tours adjusted with NCL in mind

Bangladesh A's tour of UAE to play Afghanistan has been cancelled and the tour will be replaced by a tour of India to play a Ranji trophy side, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) media committee chairman Tanvir Ahmed Tito told reporters yesterday.

"The Afghanistan series was unfortunately cancelled and, to make up for that, we are planning to play Ranji trophy team Tamil Nadu. The team will be heading to Tamil Nadu but the itinerary will be confirmed within the next two to three days," he said.

A BCB eleven was also supposed to tour Nepal but as the National Cricket League (NCL) will begin on October 10, the tour has been postponed, Tito informed.

"We will be missing a significant number of players if the BCB eleven goes there, it will affect our national league (NCL). The Nepal tour has been held off for now. If there is time available later, we might go there," he added.

"The local matches in the national leagues are a big place for building players, so if the [key] players don't participate here, they won't be able to help others improve in quality. Our focus is to hold the national league with full-strength teams," he said.

A few players were set to appear for UAE T10 league, which coincides with BCL one-day version held domestically. The T10 league will also be played right before India's tour of Bangladesh later this year, and engagement in that tournament may hamper national team's preparations ahead of India's upcoming Bangladesh tour.

"We feel that the country comes first, so as professionals we know the players would like to go and play around the world. But prioritising on the country's needs, the players can go only if it does not hamper [preparations]," Tanvir said.

The NCL will begin in revamped form with BCB set to increase salaries of long-format players while the tournament will be played on Duke balls with promise of sporting wickets. The likes of Mominul Haque and Mahmudul Hasan Joy will likely tour with the A team in India, missing a few rounds of the NCL.

"It is being discussed [regarding a few players going with the A team] and when the time frame is fixed, I don't think they will be available for the national league," Tanvir informed.

Meanwhile, following evaluation of Expression Of Interest (EOI) from prospective owners, the board yesterday invited Fortune Barishal Sports Ltd (Barishal), Mindtree Limited (Khulna), Progoti Green Auto Rice Mills Ltd (Dhaka), Future Sports Bangladesh Limited (Sylhet), Toggi Sports Limited (Rangpur), Delta Sports Ltd. (Chattogram), and Comilla Legends Limited (Cumilla) to complete the ownership procedures for the next three editions of the BPL.