Cricket in Bangladesh

The Cricket-Culture is not at all a new phenomenon in Bangladesh. As elsewhere in the subcontinent, the game itself was first introduced to the Ganges- Brahmaputra delta region by the British rulers nearly two centuries ago. For the better part of the British rule, cricket remained a recreational game for the aristocrats, inaccessible to the common people because of colonial class distinctions and the complicated nature of the game which the locals did not make out so easily.

Following the bloody freedom struggle which ended in Bangladesh gaining independence in 1971, cricket has continued to grow. It was slow to start, other things having priority at the beginning. Early in 1975 the Dhaka (then "Dacca") stadium was in disrepair, the square having sunk several inches and the the Press Club shell-torn.

The M.C.C. tour in 1976/77 helped to build the enthusiasm, over 40,000 people attending the representative match at Dhaka. In 1977 Bangladesh became an Associate member of the I.C.C. Two further M.C.C. teams toured in 1978/79 and 1980/81.

The standard of cricket quickly rose, and Bangladesh soon was the top ICC associate country in the region, winning all ACC tournaments. This gave them the opportunity to play in the Asia Cup, against teams like India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

The Third Asia Cup took place in Bangladesh in 1988 with India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka participating as well as the host country. In 1989/90 Bangladesh played hosts to the First Under-19 Asia Cup.

In 1997, Bangladesh won the ICC Trophy in Malaysia, qualifying for its first ever world cup appearance. Soon after, Bangladesh, along with Kenya were granted full ODI status by the ICC. Bangladesh posted it's first ODI win against Kenya in India in 1998.

In October of 1998, Bangladesh hosted (although they did not participate) the first ever "Mini World Cup", a knock-out basis ODI tournament featuring all the test playing nations. In 1999, in their maiden appearance at the World Cup in England, Bangladesh defeated fellow ICC associate Scotland, and then pulled off the upset of the tournament against favorites Pakistan. As a reward of bright performance in ICC and World Cup, Bangladesh was given the status of the 10th test playing nation on the 26th June, 2000.

As the famous ex-cricketer Mr.Ali Bacher of South Africa noted during his visit to Dhaka, 'the game of cricket has great prospects in a country like Bangladesh where there is cricket on the streets, cricket in the schools, in the villages, a competitive league and Friday cricket- drawing crowds of spectators who love the game in all it's forms.' The game having shed it's aristocratic restrictions prospers at the very grass-roots of Bangladeshi society.

First-class competition

Bangladesh only began an official national first-class tournament in 1999-2000 as they prepared to become Test cricket's 10th Full Member. In the first year games were not first-class, but from 2000-01 all matches were and the competition is league based with six sides playing each other home and away.

National Cricket League

Year	County
1999-00	Chittagong
2000-01	Birman Bangladesh Airlines
2001-02	Dhaka
2002-03	Khulna
2003-04	Dhaka
2004-05	Dhaka
2005-06	Rajshahi
2006-07	Dhaka
2007-08	Khulna
2008-09	Rajshahi

One-day competition

As with the first-class competition, six teams playing each other home and away once in a league.

Ispahani Mirzapore Tea One-Day League

Year
2000-01	Birman Bangladesh Airlines
2001-02	Sylhet
2002-03	Khulna
2003-04	Chittagong
2004-05	Rajshahi
2005-06	Rajshahi
2006-07	Dhaka
2007-08	Rajshahi
2008-09	Barisal

Bangladesh only began an official national first-class tournament in 1999-2000 as they prepared to become Test cricket's 10th Full Member. In the first year games were not first-class, but from 2000-01 all matches were and the competition is league based with six sides playing each other home and away.

National Cricket League

Year	County
1999-00	Chittagong
2000-01	Birman Bangladesh Airlines
2001-02	Dhaka
2002-03	Khulna
2003-04	Dhaka
2004-05	Dhaka
2005-06	Rajshahi
2006-07	Dhaka
2007-08	Khulna
2008-09	Rajshahi

One-day competition

As with the first-class competition, six teams playing each other home and away once in a league.

Ispahani Mirzapore Tea One-Day League

Year
2000-01	Birman Bangladesh Airlines
2001-02	Sylhet
2002-03	Khulna
2003-04	Chittagong
2004-05	Rajshahi
2005-06	Rajshahi
2006-07	Dhaka
2007-08	Rajshahi
2008-09	Barisal

National Cricket League

Fertile, but poor, Bangladesh straddles the estuary of the River Ganges. It is a country of almost 150 million crowded into an area not much larger than the British Isles with a rich cricket history. Although it only gained independence in 1971, it was originally part of Bengal and after partition became East Pakistan. The ground at Dhaka, which hosted Pakistan Tests, fell into disrepair after the wars which led to independence but cricket emerged as a unifying force and in 1976-77 an MCC side played games in front of massive crowds at Dhaka. Official tours by various countries playing unofficial Tests followed, and in 1976 Bangladesh became an Associate member of the ICC and took part in the inaugural ICC Trophy in 1979, reaching the semi-finals in 1982 and 1990. With huge enthusiasm among the population, Bangladesh's claims for Test status were greatly boosted when they won the ICC Trophy in 1997 (they had been playing ODIs for a decade) and that dream came true in 2001.

Domestic cricket structure

First-class cricket only began in Bangladesh after it was awarded Test status, with the National Cricket League making its debut in 2000-01 (although the competition was actually set up the previous season on a non-first class basis). The National Cricket League features six teams (Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi, Khulna, Barisal and Sylhet). A national one-day league also began in 2000-01 - the Ispahani Mirzapore Tea One-Day League - which is played by the same teams on a home and away basis. A Twenty20 competition started up in 2005 and there is a competitive club-based Dhaka Premier League.Bangladesh's international cricket history is still short so there are many more deeds to be done before they establish themselves at the top level. At first glance, Mohammad Ashraful's statistics are fairly modest but sometimes there is more to a player than meets the eye. The hugely talented right-hander made an instant impact on the international stage - and that has possibly counted against him over subsequent years. Ashraful scored a century on his debut - against Sri Lanka in Colombo - to become the youngest Test centurion, at 17 years and 63 days. Ashraful was also chiefly responsible for arguably Bangladesh's greatest international moment to date when his run-a-ball century helped them to a one-day victory against Australia in 2005.

Women' Cricket In Bangladesh

Curiously, Ireland and Netherlands are women Test playing nations while they are yet to gain Test status in the men’s version.

Women One Day Internationals are played since 1973 and the first ever Women’s Cricket World Cup was held in the same year in England in which the host emerged as champion. In addition to the above mentioned nations, Denmark, Japan and Scotland also have been awarded One Day status.

Only Bangladesh and Zimbabwe are the two Test playing nations who do not play either Test or One Day cricket in the women’s version of the game. Recently Zimbabwe won the Women's World Cup Qualifiers – Africa region, to reach the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifying Tournament 2007 (WCWCQT) in Pakistan.

Jubilinat Bhola cricketers

Bangladesh Cricket Board is expected to form a national cricket team out of the top 30 performers of the maiden championship. Ten teams have participated in the opening tourney in two groups.

Group A: Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna, Ansar, Narayanganj. Group B: Bhola, Rajshahi, Jahangirnagar University, Bogra, Rangamati.
Amid huge enthusiasm, the opening ceremony of the tournament was held on 27th January 2007 at Mirpur Sher E Bangla National Stadium. Women cricketers showed good cricketing skills and were very enthusiastic on and off the field. Bhola, Dhaka, Jahangir Nagar University and Khulna reached to the semifinals. Bhola and Khulna were the winners over Dhaka and Jahangir Nagar University respectively to reach the final which was held on 5th February 2007 at Mirpur Stadium. Bhola emerged as the champion defeating Khulna by 5 wickets.

Now that the first step has already been taken, it is very important to take the subsequent steps with proper planning. An environment must be created so that girls from every sections of the society feel interested for the sport and regular domestic league is staged in every division if not in every district. Bangladesh Krira Shikhka Protisthan (BKSP) should also start considering a new discipline on women's cricket to nurture young talents and make them quality cricketers. Inter-University Women's Cricket Championship will promote interest as well. As Bangladesh is not receiving any ICC grant to promote women’s cricket, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) should create its own funding and encourage sponsors to come forward.

Certain religious groups might try to hinder the prospect of women’s cricket in Bangladesh, but cricket here has a deep and passionate root strong enough to keep the distractors away.

Fans, welcome and hail the initiatives of BCB, and expect Bangladesh Women Cricket team will make their mark soon enough.

Women' Cricket In Bangladesh

Start Of A New Era:

Bangladesh cricket has made a significant step forward by launching the first ever National Women Cricket Championship in 2007. This is also the first time in our history when women cricketers will play in any form of domestic cricket. While most of the test playing nations are regularly playing female versions of Test and One Day series, we do not even have a national women's cricket team. Limited efforts were taken to build a national team in the past, but an international side has never represented Bangladesh due mainly to lack of interest from the organizers on top of cultural difficulties.

Veteran cricket coach Altaf Hossain has been making hard and solitary effort to promote women’s cricket for the last few years. Bangladesh was invited in November 2005 to take part in the second Women’s Asia Cup and around 20 cricketers were selected for a camp under the supervision of coach Altaf Hossain. After a few weeks of camping, Bangladesh finally turned down the invitation fearing that the team’s performance would not be competitive enough.

In the history book, the first recorded women’s cricket match was held in 1745 and the first match between two teams representing counties was in 1811 in London. Women's Test cricket has been played since December 1934. The International Women's Cricket Council was formed in 1958 to coordinate women's cricket which was officially integrated with International Cricket Council in 2005 after the eighth Women’s World Cup in South Africa which was won by Australia. Following women cricket teams have been awarded Test status by International Cricket Council to date: Australia, England, India , Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa , Sri Lanka and West Indies.

Domestic cricket in Bangladesh

The standard of cricket quickly rose, and soon Bangladesh was the top ICC associate country in the region, winning all ACC tournaments. This gave them the opportunity to play in the Asia Cup, against teams like India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The Third Asia Cup took place in Bangladesh in 1988 with India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka participating as well as the host country.

In 1989/90, Bangladesh played hosts to the First Under-19 Asia Cup. In 1997, Bangladesh won the ICC Trophy in Malaysia, qualifying for its first ever world cup appearance. Soon after, Bangladesh, along with Kenya were granted full ODI status by the ICC. Bangladesh posted its first ODI win against Kenya in India in 1998. In October 1998, Bangladesh hosted—although they did not participate—the first ever "Mini World Cup", a knock-out basis ODI tournament featuring all the test playing nations. In 1999, in their maiden appearance at the World Cup in England, Bangladesh defeated fellow ICC associate Scotland, and then won a match from favorites Pakistan.