Former Bangladesh captain and current manager of the Bangladesh cricket team Khaled Mahmud Sujon has stated that young cricketers in Bangladesh lack knowledge of the game due to lack of district cricket leagues.

The former Bangladesh all-rounder was asked about why there isn’t a league(s) in each of the 64 districts of the country, to which he responded that the jurisdiction of organizing them is only under the hands of the district board.

“Organizing district leagues is not in our hands, it is under the jurisdiction of the board of the particular district.”

He then added that lack of district league cricket is disappointing since there was more of it during his playing days, before adding that not only are cricketers deprived of making money but can’t also develop their cricketing sense due to playing less.

‘This is a bit disappointing because back when we were young cricketers, we played a lot of matches outside Dhaka. But now, this happens very rarely. A lot of districts don’t have leagues and while some districts do have leagues, they don’t have a relegation system.

‘So not only do the cricketers not make money, they are also deprived of earning some money by playing league cricket. Good cricket is not being played [in district leagues], which is a concern for us.

‘So it is natural for young cricketers to not feel inspired because they keep waiting for when the development matches will be played and from there, to be selected for the age-wise national teams.

‘Young cricketers play a lot less cricket than before.

‘The biggest problem is the game sense. If you notice then you will realize that most foreign coaches have mainly one complaint that we lack cricketing knowledge and game sense.

‘The only reason for this is that our youngsters play a lot less. This is a big issue and I think that the [district] boards should motivate them by organizing more [district] leagues so that the young cricketers could play more.”