Bangladesh’s top cricketers say the strike that stopped Thursday’s fixtures will end as soon as board director Nazmul Islam apologises in front of cameras and microphones – not behind closed doors. Two games in the Bangladesh Premier League and several Dhaka League ties were wiped from the schedule after the standoff escalated during the afternoon.
The board moved quickly, stripping Islam of the finance-committee chair, yet that was only half the point. Mohammad Mithun, speaking for the Cricketers’ Welfare Association of Bangladesh (CWAB), told reporters the group still want Islam off the board entirely. More pressingly, they want him to retract his “insulting words” in public.
“We welcome the decision to remove BCB director M Nazmul Islam from the board’s finance committee,” the CWAB statement read. “Since he has been given a showcause notice and since the BCB has asked for time due to procedural reasons regarding his directorship, we want to give him that time. However, we hope that the process will continue.
“In addition, since Director M Nazmul Islam has publicly spoken insulting words about the cricketers, we hope that he will publicly apologise. We have informed the BCB that we are ready to return to the game from Friday if he publicly apologises and the process for his directorship is ongoing.”
Aminul Islam, the board president and a former national captain, phoned several senior players on Thursday evening. According to those on the line he suggested any apology should be “a closed-door meeting”. The players, unsurprisingly, felt that rather missed the point and hung on to their stance.
There are two BPL matches pencilled in for Friday – Dhaka Capitals v Rangpur Riders in the afternoon, Chattogram Royals v Rajshahi Warriors in the evening. Ticket-holders have been told to keep receipts; broadcasters are preparing alternative programming just in case.
Mithun laid out the timeline earlier in the day, sounding exasperated by the procedural back-and-forth. “The discussion among the players has been that since yesterday night, we have been told ‘procedure, procedure, procedure’ at every step,” he said. “They had come with a solution but we didn’t agree. After that, they wanted 48 hours for their procedure, so I spoke to the players and after discussion our question is ‘after 48 hours of time taken, if he doesn’t resign, then too we will stop playing.
“We have protested and therefore the first game today won’t happen. If we even play today’s second game, but after 48 hours if he is not removed, then ultimately the game will stop again.”
The board now has to choose between a swift public apology or the prospect of another empty day at Mirpur. Privately, officials admit removing a director is neither quick nor simple under the current constitution, yet they also know the optics of half-empty stands and silent television feeds do nothing for sponsors or the wider image of Bangladeshi cricket.
For the players, the issue is straightforward: one director’s remarks crossed a line, and only a visible apology will bring them back to work. Whether that happens in time for Friday’s first delivery remains the biggest question of the night.
