BCB boss acknowledges neglect of Women’s Cricket

Nazmul Hasan

Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hasan on Saturday admitted that the board’s biggest failure has been not recognizing the contribution of women cricketers.

Defending Asia Cup Champions Bangladesh began their campaign on the right path as they defeated Thailand in the tournament opener at Sylhet on Saturday.

But they’ve been largely ignored since their triumph in this competition four years back.

The national Women’s team, despite fighting the odds, recently clinched a spot at the T20 World Cup through the Qualifier and have been performing consistently within the constraints.

‘The girls have been playing well for a long time. It is our failure that we are not taking them into consideration,’ Nazmul told the media during the inauguration of the Women’s Asia Cup in Sylhet on Saturday.

‘They [Women’s team] have emerged Champions in the World Cup qualifiers. They had also done this before and played in the World Cup. They also became unbeaten Champions in the Asia Cup and SAFF championship,’ he added.

Although the board has raised salaries for the women cricketers, it is still not very significant as members of the side receive match fees of USD 300 for the ODIs and USD 150 for the T20Is.