Ideal time to focus on domestic cricket

The coronavirus pandemic has already halted major sporting events around the globe with uncertainty looming over the resumption dates of the postponed events. As the situation remains ever-evolving, doubts regarding a number of future events have also emerged.

As far Bangladesh cricket is concerned, the latest series that came under the coronavirus cloud is New Zealand's tour of Bangladesh in August this year. New Zealand Cricket (NZC) yesterday mentioned that there are 'obvious question marks' over the Black Caps' tour of Bangladesh.

Had it not been for the coronavirus outbreak, the Tigers would now have been in Karachi for the third phase of their three-legged tour. But that was postponed with the two boards agreeing on finding a common window in future to play the solitary ODI and the second World Test Championship fixture of the postponed tour.

Such was the case too for the Bangladesh-Ireland series, originally scheduled for May in Ireland and England. That, too, was cancelled after agreement between the two boards and commitment of finding favourable future dates for the series.

Even Australia's Test skipper Tim Paine recently mentioned that their tour of Bangladesh would probably not go ahead in June. Australia are scheduled to arrive in the country for two World Test Championship fixtures.

With the way things are going, especially after NZC's latest remarks regarding Bangladesh tour, it can almost certainly be said that the landscape of international cricket will change drastically once normalcy returns. 

All the cricketing powers will be trying to fit in a potential crammed-up international calendar, trying to squeeze in the postponed events to make up for the huge chunk of lost revenues during this crisis. Even England's World Cup-winning skipper Eoin Morgan mentioned the possibility of them fielding separate squads for two different series against two different oppositions at the same time.

Keeping all these in mind, it can be rightly assumed that even when the situation becomes normal, it will still take a lot of time for international cricket to get rolling. It might as well happen that a totally unique method will be adopted in arranging international series after the pandemic.

This might lead to a situation where the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), not amongst the most powerful of cricket boards, might be left wanting for an international series even for years to come. And it would require true instances of leadership from the BCB high-ups to convince and bargain their way into finding a suitable international series amid all the chaos that await.

In the worst case scenario, what could be the best way for the BCB to tackle the situation? Because just like general people, the cricketers are also eagerly waiting for normalcy to return and for them normalcy means battling out against opponents in the field with bat and ball.

The best way to ensure some cricketing action immediately after the end of the pandemic is resuming domestic leagues. For years now it is being lamented how attractive domestic cricket was in old times when fans used to flock to grounds to witness the likes of Akram Khan playing for Abahani and Minhajul Abedin fighting for Mohammedan.

In the post-pandemic reality, the focus could be on returning to the roots and the BCB could put more importance in enriching the domestic circuit with better facilities and competitive wickets. Even the cricket fans, who are now confined to indoors spending time watching highlights and counting days of when they get to see players in action live once again, will surely be delighted to get a sight of the ball travelling to boundaries, even in domestic leagues.

Planned and executed properly, the glory days of domestic cricket might just return and if it does, it would be BCB's responsibility to come up with some innovative ideas to keep the fans engaged sustainable periods and not let it fade away again.