Gulshan keeps Mirpur waiting
Shakib Al Hasan sat in the fourth row, amid fellow cricketers and journalists. Tamim Iqbal was walking around ensuring that the journalists had enough places to sit.
"Bhai, if you don't find seats up front, ask one of the cricketers and he will gladly give up his," Bangladesh's highest run-scorer was overheard telling a reporter. Shohag Gazi was peering around a pillar close to the stage, which was occupied by senior domestic cricketers like Tushar Imran and Abdur Razzak, while the players' appointed spokesperson, Barrister Mustafizur Rahman Khan, sat in the middle behind the microphone.
It was an occasion unlike any that Bangladesh cricket has witnessed, taking place not at the cricket headquarters of Mirpur but on the first floor of a hotel in Gulshan on the third day of an eventful period that started with players boycotting cricketing activities unless certain demands be met.
That was Monday, and on Tuesday Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) President Nazmul Hassan fired back with a lengthy press conference of his own, the main thrust of which was that the cricketers' strike had been orchestrated by conspirators who wished to destabilise Bangladesh cricket. He was also not above making thinly-veiled personal attacks on players.
Yesterday, the 11-point demand grew to 13-strong as a revenue sharing model and the inclusion of women cricketers in the reforms were added. The players had already made most of the demands more succinctly than the spokesperson, who displayed a tendency to over-explain every point he was making. Between those, some of the causes for the cricketers' simmering discontent came through.
"On tours, cricketers get a per diem of 50 dollars, while for directors it is 500 dollars," was one such that seemed like the public should know.
It was learnt that after Hassan's provocative press conference, more cricketers had called the original strikers and wanted to join the cause, and that was in evidence at the press conference teeming with as many cricketers as there were journalists -- certainly a first in Bangladesh cricket.
But if the BCB boss's words had caused injury, that was not in evidence yesterday. After a clamour to hear from a cricketer, Shakib made it to the front and said: "As we said, this movement is not against anyone. We have the same amount of respect we did for the BCB."
Some of the demands will no doubt be seen as ambitious and may be seen as things for the distant future.
But that is why yesterday seemed important; it was a small but significant step towards a future where power is shared more equitably. For a while at least, while Hassan and other board high-ups were waiting in Mirpur since 5:00pm, the power in Bangladesh cricket resided with the players.
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