Cricketers call off strike after BCB's assurance

After a long 72 hours, there are sighs of relief in the Bangladesh cricketing arena as the players have decided to call off the strike after getting assurance from the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) that their demands will be met. 

The BCB has assured the cricketers that nine of the 11 demands will be met, except the first and the last one. The newly added two demands on Wednesday have not been discussed but will be seen to later, according to BCB. The two demands they have not agreed to are the ones regarding the Cricketer's Welfare Association of Bangladesh (Cwab) and the embargo on players to play in more than two franchise leagues.

This means that the India tour will be played on its due date and the fitness camp for the series will commence on the 25th of October. The third round of National Cricket League (NCL) will commence on October 26 instead of the scheduled date of October 24. 

BCB President Nazmul Hassan has said that they discussed about the 11 demands given earlier, but the other two added today. 

Nazmul said about the demand regarding the first-class match fees that they (BCB) will not be a bit hesitant to provide them with improved match fees. "Not six months or a year, we will try to solve it within days."

About the improvement of facilities, he said, "We (BCB) were improving facilities one by one, but now we'll do all of it at once so that it does not take up too much time." 

He said that he came to know about many other problems in the meeting and it will be seen to once they get it in writing.

He also said that the situation of Cwab is not in BCB's hands and the board will take part in any of it. 

Regarding the franchise league issue, the BCB president said that they will deal with it case to case, as there are not many players who have offers from more than two franchise leagues. 

He also said they were ready to dispatch the third round of NCL but as the players wanted to play, the board has moved it to October 26.

Shakib Al Hasan, the leader of the strike, said that the meeting was fruitful and they understand that their demands can not be met instantly. He said that for now, they were satisfied but they will only be sure when the assertions will be implemented.

Shakib also said that they talked about the Cwab election. He said that there were rules and regulations which the players were not aware of, and it had to be through a process and at a time when players were free. Shakib added that they wanted a representative from the current players in Cwab who can talk about the demands of the current players to the board. 

The Test and T20 captain of Bangladesh team said that they had talked with Cwab president Naimur Rahman and vice-president Khaled Mahmud to sort the situation out. 

For now, the situation is sorted out and cricket is back on the field. But the question of for how long it will remain sorted still stays at large. 

For now, Bangladesh cricket has passed through its toughest 72 hours and it is time for everyone to take a breather.