CWAB to take initiative to reduce disparity between national and first-class players
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|| CF Correspondent ||
The biggest challenge for the Cricketers Welfare Associations of Bangladesh (CWAB) is to reduce the inequality between the national team’s players and the first-class players of the country regarding facilities.
The national team’s cricketers are given top priority in all the countries of the world in terms of facilities. Of them, three other South Asian countries including India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka give honor to their first-class cricketers. In this case, Bangladesh is different from them where there is a big difference between the national team players and first-class cricketers.
Last year both types of the cricketers in the country launched a strike to narrow down the inequality. Since then, the fate of most of the cricketers in the country has not changed in the expected way.
As of now, the CWAB, the authentic representative of the cricketers, started thinking about it as the CWAB General Secretary Debobrata Paul said it is essential for them to bring a sustainable change and development of cricket in the country.
“The main challenge for us is to peg down the gap between the national and first-class cricketers. Dignity should be reduced in terms of economy, salary structure and facilities. Real improvement in Bangladesh cricket is not possible unless this gap is reduced,” Debobrata Paul said.
“The main challenge for CWAB now is to bridge the gap between the national team and first-class cricketers,” Debobrata told this reporter.
While the match fee for Tests is Tk six lakh, the match fee for NCL Tier-1 is Tk. 60,000. In contrast, the salary of first-class ‘A’ category cricketers is around Tk 29,000.
A total of 91 cricketers have been included in the contract of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB). The cricketers’ movement was conditional on a 50 per cent pay hike. The BCB had promised to increase it from 30 to 35 per cent but that promise hasn’t been fulfilled yet.
“A cricketer in the A-plus band of the national team has a salary of Tk six lakh, while a first-class cricketer is paid Tk. 28,000. In addition to financial benefits, national team’s players are getting infrastructural benefits, coaching staff, grounds, balls, infrastructure access facilities; first-class cricketers should also be given these facilities. We’re not saying to be exactly equal. It should be 19-20 or 18-20. It can’t be 5-20,” the general secretary said.
“When these places improve, you will see that 80 cricketers are backed up for the national team. If this can be done, the cricketers will be benefited. If a player who is playing in the national team does not perform for one year, then he will come to a contract of Tk six lakh to 30 thousand. It can’t be. We’re taking match fees to a place. We hope the salary structure will also be changed. We’re working with the board to this end,” he added.
BCB director and former national skipper Akram Khan said he is also in favour of reducing the inequality between the players.
“We’re making an effort to reduce the incongruity. Papon [Nazmul Hasan] bhai always wants cricketers to get good opportunities. Match fees have gone up, so maybe the pay structure will change as well. The other facilities may also be increased,” said Akram Khan.
“If there was a regional cricket body, the facilities for first-class cricketers could have been better ensured. These are being discussed. I hope Papon Bhai will do something when the situation gets better,” Khan added.
