BCB boss presides over marathon meeting after WI debacle
A lengthy meeting took place at the residence of Bangladesh Cricket Board President Nazmul Hassan yesterday with chief selector Minhajul Abedin and a majority of board directors present.
Among the issues under discussion was the upcoming tour of New Zealand, which will come swiftly on the heels of a humiliating whitewash in a two-Test series against an inexperienced West Indies side at home.
During the meeting, BCB high-ups discussed various aspects ahead of the tough upcoming New Zealand tour where the Tigers are scheduled to play three ODIs and three T20Is.
"We discussed the cricketers and we talked openly about many aspects. Apart from that we also talked about the previous few series and development projects in the high-performance unit. We also discussed the recently concluded series against the West Indies," BCB director and chairman of the HP unit Nairmur Rahman Durjoy told the media on the sidelines of the meeting yesterday.
There had been talk that the selectors might announce a 20-member preliminary squad for the New Zealand tour and it was later learned that they are expected to announce the squad by Friday.
It was also learned that the board is thinking of starting the National Cricket League -- the country's oldest first-class competition. The selectors are planning to start the fitness test of cricketers by next month.
Sources close to developments said three senior national cricketers were supposed to join the meeting but they had not arrived when this report was filed late last evening.
Meanwhile, the cricketers who are expected to be named in the preliminary squad for the upcoming New Zealand tour will start getting the coronavirus vaccine from today, under BCB's supervision. However, there were rumours that some national cricketers were not interested in getting the vaccine.
However, BCB Chief Physician Dr Debashish Chowdhury said it is not mandatory for cricketers to take the vaccine before the New Zealand tour and said the board will arrange to vaccinate those who want to take it later.
"I can't comment on whether some cricketers are interested or not to get the vaccine but we have asked everyone for this. Although it is not mandatory [taking vaccine] and maybe those who are not interested at the moment might change their mind. We will start giving vaccines from tomorrow [Thursday] and we are getting the names of those who are interested to take the vaccine," Debashish told The Daily Star yesterday.
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