No media manager in SL tour as BCB moving in reverse

The first thing that greets the eyes in the Bangladesh Cricket Board's (BCB) official website is the Bangladesh squad for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, a tournament that concluded over three months ago.

The negligence shown towards the official website is not a one-off thing, as the BCB has continually been passive when it comes to providing up-to-date information regarding the national men's and women's teams, understudy sides and age-level teams.

And from the looks of it, the negligence is getting worse as the BCB is set to send the national team for an away tour without a proper media manager for the third straight series.

A 28-member Bangladesh contingent consisting of 16 players and 12 coaching and support staff, is set to depart for Sri Lanka for a three-format series in two batches, one having left today and the other set to depart tomorrow, but the BCB chose not to include any media manager with this sizable contingent.

The team was without a media manager in the preceding tours of UAE and Pakistan as well. In both those series, team manager Nafees Iqbal had to take care of the department alongside his regular duties.

Nafees has once again been entrusted to perform both duties in Sri Lanka in a series which entails two Tests, three ODIs and three T20Is.

The last time the national team had a media manager on tour was during this year's ICC Champions Trophy, where BCB's senior media manager Rabeed Imam performed the duty.

For years, it has been a common practice to have a media manager with the team, especially during foreign tours, as they work as a bridge between the team and the touring and local media.

While the other cricket boards in the world have taken things a step further by appointing social media managers or content managers alongside the regular media manager in a bid to improve fan engagement on social media, the BCB is heading towards the exact opposite direction.

After not sending a media manager for the series against UAE and Pakistan, BCB's media and communications chairman Iftekhar Rahman Mithu had vowed to appoint one in the next series, but he has failed to keep his promise.

"We face a lot of difficulties for not having a media manager during a tour. Actually, I couldn't bring up the matter early enough. By the time I did, tickets and other logistical matters were already confirmed," Iftekhar told The Daily Star on Thursday.

Iftekhar, however, insisted that he has already discussed with new board president Aminul Islam Bulbul about recruiting more staff in the BCB media department to focus not only on day-to-day activities but also to work on content creation for the board's social media handles.

"I have already talked to the new president to recruit two people for media department. I hope the issue will be sorted soon," he concluded.