BCB more worried by halt than finances
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and New Zealand Cricket (NZC) yesterday decided to postpone the Kiwis' two-test tour of the country, originally scheduled for August-September as part of the World Test Championship, due to the coronavirus pandemic.
There has been no cricketing activity in Bangladesh since mid-March and New Zealand's tour is the second home series – and fourth overall – to be postponed after Australia's scheduled June tour was also deferred.
Earlier, the second Test against Pakistan in Karachi scheduled in April and the Ireland and UK tour in May were also postponed for the same reason while the Tigers' tour of Sri Lanka in July-August is still in doubt.
The spread of coronavirus in the country has been getting worse, with the number of confirmed cases being 115,786 and deaths rising to 1,502 as of yesterday.
The postponement of the two home series will certainly have an impact on the BCB financially. However according to BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury the board is more concerned about the cricketing aspect than the financial losses due to the pandemic.
"If you look at the global scenario all the boards are facing the same situation but we are more concerned about the cricketing activities, which are hampered due to the pandemic. We are also placing the topmost priority on the safety of our players and personnel related to the game, and thinking about ways to come back to the field.
"Obviously, financial considerations are important, but the fact is we would not have generated much revenue through these home series. But if you talk about the cricketing aspect it has been a huge disappointment for us to postpone the series," Nizamuddin told The Daily Star.
Officials said that the BCB has the financial capability to continue operations for the next five years.
BCB finance committee chairman Ismail Haider Mallick echoed those sentiments and said that the board was not worried about losses but are more concerned with the halt in proceedings.
"To be honest we were not supposed to generate significant revenue through these two home series. Yes, there will be losses from the jersey and title sponsors and other areas, which is not huge if we talk about revenue generating. We are more concerned about the cricketing aspect, where we missed out on two crucial home series against Australia and New Zealand. From the cricketing perspective it is a huge blow for our cricket. Our main aim at the moment is to find ways to return to cricket keeping all the safety measures and also follow ICC's guidelines," Mallick said.
When it comes to generating revenue for the BCB, the majority comes from the ICC, which includes the participation money in global events. The upcoming ICC T20 World Cup which is scheduled to start from October this year in Australia is also under a huge cloud of doubt. If the T20 World Cup is also postponed for the pandemic, it will then surely have a substantial financial impact on all the cricket boards in the world, including the BCB.
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