BCB to commercialise domestic tourneys under new reform plan

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has undertaken a series of initiatives to make its domestic tournaments more competitive and commercially attractive, while significantly reducing operational costs.

Tournament Committee Chairman Sirajuddin Mohammad Alamgir said the planned reforms could save the BCB between Tk 15 crore and Tk 30 crore annually, with the savings to be redirected towards cricket development.

According to Alamgir, the BCB currently spends more than Tk. 50 crore each year in organizing domestic tournaments, a figure he believes can be substantially reduced through better planning and commercialization.

"From what we have seen, the BCB spends a huge amount of money to run its tournaments. With some well-planned initiatives, we can significantly reduce those costs," Alamgir told the BSS in an exclusive interview.

"After consulting with the board president, we have undertaken several projects regarding our domestic competitions. We have already discussed the plans with our stakeholders, and the results will be visible very soon," he added.

Alamgir, a veteran cricket organizer from Chattogram, said the board is no longer interested in continuing to bear the full financial burden of tournaments such as the National Cricket League (NCL) T20, the Bangladesh Cricket League (BCL) four-day and one-day competitions.

Under the proposed model, the BCB plans to market the BCL four-day, BCL one-day and NCL T20 tournaments as a single commercial package. Each competition will feature six privately owned teams, with approximately 60 days allocated for the combined schedule.

The traditional eight-team NCL four-day championship, however, will continue in its existing format with divisional teams, alongside a three-day NCL Second XI competition.

"If we continue these tournaments in the conventional way, they will not benefit us financially. That's why we have decided to market them. The money we save through effective cost-cutting can later be invested in development projects," Alamgir said.

"We have already shared our ideas with the marketing department to explore how domestic cricket can be marketed more effectively."    �"BSS