Takashinga playing in quadrangular in Uganda

[Kriterion_BD]

Damn, grandhomme with 3 wickets now!

Only bowling at 125k but nipping it around on a greentop!

[jaybro]

That's why the ICC took so long I think to give test status this time, looking back I don't know what they were thinking giving it to BD they had only won 3 ODI's and even Kenya were regular victors of them ......

Now it's BD who are winning tests against the likes of England, whilst Zimbabwe are loosing to associates. We should organise a series against Hong Kong so we can win a series ......

[Kriterion_BD]

BD got test status 10 years too soon. But its one of those things that if we hadnt gotten it in 2000, we would have lost what we have currently. Guys would have gone on to other professions rather than playing Dhaka Premier League for 1/10th of the money they make now.

We lucked out to get it when we did, although we had some of ths stuff that made it an easier decision (massive fan following). But the BCB still had to lobby hard and effectively. Then president Saber Hossain Chowdhury got critical supporg from both India and Pakistan to convince the rest of the ICC to give us test status, even though we clearly werent ready. We didnt even have a first class league until after our first test, from what I hear.

[Googly]

Kriterion- how many clubs and first class sides are there in Bangladesh?
What salaries do the FC players receive?

[Googly]

This delay of our season in order for Takashinga to complete their Ugandan holiday is an outrage. I'm curious as to how they are paying for it, are any of the forumites prepared to let us know? I think ZC would be happy with Takashinga 1-6 and no other clubs.
I take back my stupid comment about this being the 11th hour and maybe a bit of sense prevailing. We need to demand an official statement from ZC on this matter.

[Googly]

i don't understand how ICC don't take a more active role in how we disburse our funds and manage our affairs. We rely on them for handouts and clearly they have money to burn if they let us continue in this vein.

[Kriterion_BD]

Kriterion- how many clubs and first class sides are there in Bangladesh?
What salaries do the FC players receive?

Good questions.

First class we have 2 competitions, the National Cricket League with 8 sides representing each division with the exception of Mymensingh, which only got split from Dhaka in 2015 or something super recent. Dhaka has two teams, one representing the entire division, and one representing Dhaka the city.

We also have the newer, franchise based BCL which has 4 zonal teams. Between the two leagues, each team plays 10-11 first class matches per year.

NCL is a joke, much like the Logan Cup. Guys who can't hold a bat still score centuries quite regulalry. Anyone who bowls left arm spin will pick wickets, hence hardly any off or leg spinners in the country. Even when there is, management will always play an SLA over an offie or leggie. Pitches are crap and fast bowlers are used only to take the shine off the ball.

The BCL is a bit better. The BCB did offer central contracts to 120 FC cricketers back in 2012 or 13, but not sure if thats still in place. At that time, the contracts ranged from 2100-3000 USD per year.

The national team's top grade contract is worth 30,000 USD per year. With match fees, thats another aprox 30K, add in domestic matches the total salary for a Tamim Iqbal or Mushfiqur Rahim is aprox $100,000 USD per year. Tamim and Mushfiq make another 50K from the PSL. Shakib and Mustafiz obviously make a lot more as they play in the IPL.

A Test specialist like Mominul Haque will earn far less...40-50,000 per year total.

A domestic player like Asif Ahmed will probably make about 20-30,000.

Regardless, in a country where the average yearly income is about 1300, cricket still pays well, especially for the national teamers.

[TapsC]

those figures seem to match what the guys get paid here excluding the t20 competitions of course. I think the major advantage Bangladesh has over us is the population size. we are only like 14 million of which 2/3 million don't even live in Zimbabwe. Cricket is also not the biggest sport in Zimbabwe although I would suggest it might be the best paying team sport if u average out the national players.if I'm not mistaken Bangladesh has a population way over 100 million. your talent pool will ALWAYS be bigger than ours. u guys can unearth a gem of a player ever year whilst its takes us 3 years to find a gem who will also then decide to play for another country. add poor administration to a sinking economy and we are really the underdogs

some will argue that the population size of countries like new Zealand and Ireland are also really small and that's where I think good administration and a functioning economy come into play

[maehara]

Ireland seem be struggling after the 2015 WC. I hope the Irish have the talent pool to at least compete at Test level.

Painful to see when you're supporting them. They're in transition at the moment - retirements beckoning for the team of the recent glory days, and while there's talent coming through they have to watch that it doesn't catch England's eye before they can make use of it. At any rate, they'll be in comparative doldrums for a few years, I reckon.

Bangladesh and Afghanistan at least don't have to deal with poachers on their doorsteps.

[eugene]

Kriterion, what is the cost of living in Bangladesh if you want to live to western standards?