'Trying to start DPL on Jan 20'

The prestigious Dhaka Premier League, the lone 50-over domestic tournament in the country, is expected to start from January 20 informed new Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis (CCDM) chairman Kazi Inam Ahmed yesterday.

There was a lot of criticism during the previous season of the league, which concluded in June this year, as it was played during the monsoon and forced players to cope with hot and humid weather conditions.

"Once again we want to return the Premier League to January-February and we are trying to start the tournament on January 20," Inam told media yesterday.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) also backtracked on their statements that the 'players by choice' would not be used again and had even reverted to the traditional players' transfer during the previous season. However, the BCB has decided to return to the controversial 'players by choice' system for the league's upcoming iteration.

"8-10 days before [the tournament] we are looking to arrange the 'players by choice' draft and we have already talked about this with the club officials," Inam said.

He added that the decision was taken in line with the demands of the clubs.

"We have decided to go with the 'players by choice' system as we received requests from a lot of clubs. At the same time we have considered the fact that our national players will not be available during the league as the tournament will be from January to March. Each club can retain four players from the previous season. According to the clubs there is a lot of demand which is not possible for the clubs to fulfil and even to sustain which was the reason for the return of the players by choice."

However according to the CCDM chairman they were also looking at it from the players' perspective as the Dhaka league is the main source of income for many domestic players. Inam also informed that he had asked the selectors to finalise the players' wages according to their grade.

Meanwhile Inam also added they were considering hosting the Dhaka league matches inside the capital unlike the previous few seasons which were staged in BKSP and Fatullah.

There were a lot of questions regarding the standards of umpiring in the league and Inam also emphasised better umpiring standards in the upcoming season.

"These things have come in the media as there were questions over the umpiring and our board president also urged [us] to improve the standards of umpiring in the Premier league along with other leagues and we are trying to make it better," he added.

According to Inam the First Division League will start after the Premier League while the Second Division League will start alongside the Premier League. The Third Division League will be held at the same venues once the Second division concludes.