CWAB stresses long-term benefit for cricketers amid BPL absence

Dhaka, 1 Sept- The Cricketers' Welfare Association of Bangladesh (CWAB) insisted on a long-term plan to compensate the cricketers due to the cancellation of this year's Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).

CWAB president Mohammad Mithun said they are not seeking any alternative tournament because there was no realistic way to directly reimburse cricketers for the loss of the BPL through another competition.

He advocated for strengthening the existing domestic cricket structure rather than arranging a short-term replacement for the BPL, with the aim of creating more sustainable financial opportunities for Bangladesh's cricketers.

"First of all, there is no alternative to the BPL and there is no way to make up for the financial losses of the cricketers by organizing another tournament," Mithun said here today.

"The question here is whether something is being held instead of it? No, nothing is being held instead of the BPL because it won't be feasible," he said.

Mithun said CWAB has already discussed the issue with the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), particularly how domestic competitions such as the National Cricket League (NCL) and Bangladesh Cricket League (BCL) could be structured to provide greater financial benefits to players.

"We already know the plans for the games that we will have this year, routine-wise NCL, BCL would be held and the discussion was how these tournaments can benefit the players financially. We have discussed at length in this regard," Mithun added.

According to Mithun, the initiative could benefit around 150 to 200 cricketers over the long term.

He also said the proposal was not prepared solely through discussions among CWAB members. The association consulted the national team captain and senior cricketers, including players currently outside the country.

"Not only with the CWAB, we've discussed with the national captains. We are in contact with those who are not in the country now, over the phone. We discussed the details of which would be better and gave the proposal to the board," Mithun added.BSS