Bangladesh cricket strike: Players' new demand set to shake-up BCB

Bangladesh cricket has been in the news for quite a while as national cricketers decided to boycott their tour to India following their announcement of an 11-point demand on Monday. While it looked like the issue was finally going to settle, the cricketers added two more points to their list of demands, which would see a radical shake-up in the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB).

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Bangladesh cricket strike: What players demanded

During a press conference, Barrister Mustafizur Rahman Khan who spoke on the cricketers’ behalf said that in addition to the original 11 demands, the cricketers wanted a revenue-sharing model similar to what Australian cricketers negotiated through the Australian Cricketers Association (ACA) and also that women cricketers be afforded the same provisions where ‘practically and commercially viable.

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According to the spokesperson, Australia cricketers get a share of the revenue from Cricket Australia (CA) alongside their regular salary and the Bangladesh players also want a similar system, which will allow them to get a share from the board’s revenue after negotiations each year.

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Bangladesh cricket strike: The new points added to the demand 

1) Going forward, there should be transparency and accountability of income and expenditure and maintenance of accounts in Bangladeshi cricket in the interests of all its stakeholders. Arrangements will have to be made where professional cricketers are given a fair share of the revenue generated by BCB through commercial exploitation of cricket and its associated interests, which, after all, is made possible through the toil and performance of professional cricketers. A cricketers’ welfare, provident and compensation fund and insurance scheme has to be established and administered, which will ensure the welfare of cricketers who have fallen on the hard times, provide pensions to retired cricketers and compensation to injured cricketers on fulfilment of objectively defined and administered criteria.

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2) To the extent practical and commercially feasible, similar provisions as above will have to be made for female cricketers, with the ultimate objective of attaining gender parity as early as possible.

Bangladesh cricket strike: Cricketers call off strike

On Wednesday, October 23, Bangladesh players called off their strike after they mentioned that most of their demands were met by the authorities which include a pay hike for domestic first-class players. Bangladesh's star all-rounder and the skipper of their Test and T20I sides Shakib Al Hasan went on to say that the talk was successful.

If reports are to be believed then Shakib has said that the players' demands have been heard by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) President and Directors and they have also been assured that the concerned authorities will meet them as soon as possible. The veteran cricketer then added that it was on the basis of this assurance from the BCB that their first-class players will start playing from Saturday while their national team players will join the camp (for India tour) from October 25.