The Bangladesh Cricket Board says it will look into allegations of intimidation made by the Cricketers’ Welfare Association of Bangladesh, following Thursday’s player-led boycott that halted two Bangladesh Premier League fixtures and several Dhaka league matches.
Speaking just before midnight in Dhaka, CWAB president Mohammad Mithun told reporters he and other senior players had received abusive phone calls and text messages during the stoppage.
“Everyone’s who has been on camera, we’ve been getting bad messages and threats via calls from many people,” he revealed.
Mithun, a regular in the national set-up and now the public face of the protest, stressed that the players’ demands revolved only around professional respect and overdue payments.
“I am sure that I haven’t used any words that make someone small or I have gone into a debate or have spoken against the country. My only issue was cricket. The main matter was our self-respect and we are talking from that point of view only. People are calling us enemies of the country and so on. We have not uttered a single word against the country. No member of CWAB or no player will ever talk badly about our country, I am sure.”
BCB director Iftekhar Rahman, who shared the dais with Mithun, promised practical help. “Everyone knows we have a security department,” he noted. “I have just heard about the concerns from players, the calls and so on, we will tell the security department to handle it. We are taking this seriously.”
The board’s leadership is also dealing with the fallout from comments made earlier in the week by fellow director M Nazmul Islam, who had publicly questioned whether the cricketers deserved improved terms. Nazmul has since been removed as chair of the finance committee, though he remains on the board. Iftekhar admitted the remarks have aggravated the dispute. “The situation has only got worse because he has gone ahead and given more comments,” he said, adding that the BCB president had already spoken to Nazmul about the issue.
Another director, Shanian Taneem, used social media on 14 January to back the players unequivocally:
“Our players are our asset and they sweat from head to toe to serve this nation,” he wrote. “No one has the right to comment on whether they should be paid or not. I stand for what is right and will always protest for what’s wrong. The players are our children and I will protect them whether they win or lose. I am only here to serve the game of cricket and I will stand on the way of anyone or anything that will hamper this game and our boys.”
Friday’s BPL programme went ahead as scheduled after the 24-hour stoppage, yet unresolved contractual issues remain. Franchises are understood to owe match fees from last season, while several domestic professionals complain of delayed retainer payments.
Experienced observers feel both sides have incentives to settle quickly. The BCB wants an uninterrupted run-in to next month’s white-ball tour of Sri Lanka, and players are reluctant to jeopardise form ahead of likely national call-ups. A short-term solution could involve partial payments and a written timetable for the rest, though neither camp confirmed details on Thursday night.
For now the board’s promise of a formal investigation into the alleged threats offers the players a degree of reassurance, even if it does little to mend the broader relationship. Further dialogue is expected early next week, with CWAB keen to keep the BPL on the field while pushing for longer-term structural safeguards—an annual minimum-wage figure and clear penalty clauses for late payments chief among them.
Bangladesh cricket has weathered player-board disputes before; most have ended in compromise once tempers cooled. Whether this round follows the same pattern may depend on how quickly the BCB can deliver on its twin tasks: ensuring security for its athletes and honouring the contracts already signed.
