Staff Correspondent

As the Bangladesh government tries to build a discrimination free country, the decentralization of cricket came to the fore again.

“Many believe setting up regional cricket association through which the decentralization of cricket is possible can play vital role in uprooting discrimination and corruption from cricket,” Director of Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) Najmul Abedin Fahim made the comments in an interview with BSS.

Also it will make cricket free from the clutch of Dhaka and create a ground for local organizers in every districts to involve more in spreading cricket in their region, he said.

In the past all of the high ups of Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) talked about how important is to set up a regional cricket association to find out the talented cricketers from the grassroots level but no one showed any strict desire to materialize it, the BCB director added.

“Therefore cricket remains Dhaka-based, resulting in a vulnerable cricketing pipeline,” Fahim added.

The cricketers that the country so far unearthed, mostly came through various programmes of BCB and some dedicated district or local cricket organizers but so far no combined effort was taken to co-ordinate this process in every district.

“Regional cricket association can solve all those problems and give us the opportunity to find out more talented cricketers from the grassroots level,” he said.

Fahim also worked in BCB game development committee for a long time before being elected as the director.

“I know how tough it is for a cricketer from remote area to make him known. He relies on luck to be unearthed by some coaches or local organizer. Even a player from district level has to overcome various barriers to reach Dhaka. But if there is a proper cricket committee is his area, he can easily be reached out,” Fahim said, further highlighting of decentralizing the cricket.

“Everything is Dhaka-based which is not good for overall cricket. The BCB organizes various programmes every year to unearth cricketers from the grassroots level but it is not enough. We need many cricketers so regional cricket association has to be active. And we have to do it. If every district can organize cricket tournament regularly, you will get many cricketers automatically.”

In the past, basically due to keep cricket in their clutch, no one takes proper initiative to decentralize cricket. But Fahim said it is high time to take a proper initiative to do it.

“I have been always vocal in this issue but no one did it in the past. Since I am here now, I will try to materialize it. We want to erase all kind of discrimination from the cricket, so regional cricket association is the best way to give all equal opportunity,” he said.

“You know we have shortage of workforce at this moment. And also everything can’t be done. This is a process. But the regional cricket association should get the top priority. We’ve to set up a proper roadmap to materialize it and that’s most important thing.”