|| CF Correspondent ||

The Bangladesh Cricket Board official said on Friday that they have decided not to allow Steven Smith to take part in the upcoming edition of Bangladesh Premier League after franchises expressed their reservations over his inclusion in the tournament, citing a by-law violation.

Smith was signed by Comilla Victorians as a replacement for Asela Gunaratne for the forthcoming season of BPL, scheduled to start on January 5. However, the problem with Smith's inclusion is that he was picked from outside the draft, which goes against the laws of the BPL.

Franchises expressed their concern during a meeting with the BPL governing council and after the GC members failed to convince the franchises, the matter was referred to the Bangladesh Cricket Board for a final call.

"We have decided not to allow Smith to take part in BPL as franchises are not ready to compromise on his issue,’’ said BCB media committee chairman Jalal Yunus on Friday.

‘’We even said that each franchise can take one player outside the draft as that would allowed Smith to play while others could also take any star of their choice but they decided  against it as there is no big star available at that point,’’ he added