The country's lone first-class competition has seen four separate bylaws put into use in its first four years but none have clearly defined the issue of players' allegiance which had created a lot of confusion. Besides, last year the competition was marred by controversy over the rule and points distribution. Funnily the tournament committee was forced to give an instant ruling after the weak bylaws failed to resolve which two teams qualify for the final after eventual winners Khulna, Dhaka and Chittagong all finished on equal points at the end of their league fixtures.

After a marathon meeting last night, the tournament committee included a rigid clause, which restricts free movement of players. It was learnt that a player can only represent a particular division if he was either born there or has his family settled in that division.

The new regulations are expected to be made public today after Board president Ali Asghar has given his approval.

After yesterday's meeting BCB's cricket committee chairman Mahbub Anam said that they have followed the standard first-class bylaws adopted in other Test playing countries.

"Hopefully, we will no longer experience controversies like in the past", said Anam without elaborating.

The fourth National League will commence on December 10 and if the new bylaws is approved by the Board president, then the six participating teams would have to rethink their strategy of recruiting players.

For Example, out of favour national batsman Al Shahriar, who was set to play for Chittagong, might have to opt for Dhaka. Another national discard Sanwar Hossain appeared for Barisal Division last season but is actually a Dhaka Division player if one goes by the birth rule. The line-ups will see a lot of changes when the six divisions send their team rosters to the tournament committee over the next few days.

The Board this year has decided to give a professional outlook to the National League after a lackluster event last season when it turned into a Dhaka-based tournament with makeshift arrangements.

It was learnt that the BCB was thinking of paying honorarium to the top fifteen players of each team. But that proposal would be finalised in the next Board meeting on December 6.

The tournament committee has also proposed to pay Tk 15,000 to each player of the participating divisional teams. But this financial benefit would be applicable only for those cricketers who have played at least three consecutive seasons for a team.

Besides, each team will receive Taka 2 lakh as appearance fees. The champions of the four-day competition will get cash awards of Taka 2 lakh while the runners-up will receive Tk 1 lakh. The winners of the one-day competition will be richer by Taka 1 lakh while the runners-up will get Taka 50,000.