REJOINDER

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) 'strongly' protested a report published in The Daily Star's Sport page on January 5 with the headline '3 things to watch as carnival starts'. In a rejoinder*, the BCB said they 'strongly protest the irresponsible and unsubstantiated remarks' in the 'part of the report under the subtitle 'ORGANISATION' which we have found to be misleading and wrong'.

To read the rejoinder in its entirety, click here

In the section in question, the controversy surrounding the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) match between Comilla Victorians and Rangpur Riders on December 10, 2017, was used as an example of the BPL governing council not following the playing conditions. Rain had interrupted the match and the cut-off time was extended by two hours to 11:15. According to the playing conditions that was quoted in the rejoinder, if a Super Over (which decides the contest in the event that a Qualifier ends in a tie or a no-result) is not possible then the team placed higher in the regular portion of the tournament would go through to the final. That would have meant Comilla going through, but instead the match was resumed the following day and Rangpur won the contest on way to clinching the title.

"The BCB would like to draw your attention [sic] the  following clarification circulated on 11 December, 2017 which explains in detail that the decisions concerning the said games were all taken strictly within the stipulations of the by-laws which was never compromised," the rejoinder said.

The 'clarification' in question quoted the bylaws and said that 'management of both teams agreed to resume play on the following day in the greater interest of the tournament and in the spirit of the game'.

OUR RESPONSE

The rejoinder and the quoted section of the bylaws made it self-explanatory that the decisions on the night of December 10, 2017 were not drawn from the bylaws, which does not provide an avenue for the team managements to decide upon the fate of the match.