The other problem with our players is their fragile physique. If you compare the average age and the average weight with the other Test playing nations Bangladesh will perhaps become the lowest. Why our players are light because they are under-nourished. I would say when the national players are not playing cricket they should not stay in Bangladesh. They should be sent either to Australia or to England. For nothing else but for food because when they go home after the national duties they eat all our adulterated food, rubbish food.

So, my suggestion is send them off to play in the Lancashire League in the summer when there is rainy here. I'm sure they will find a place in Lancashire League even it is free and they do not get paid. Let the Board pay for it. It will not only allow them to have proper food but also allow them to play in good pitches.

I don't know why they are talking about money. The BCB is not short of money. If anything they have got too much is money. As Saber Hossain Chowdhury said when he left the Board he left a balance of over 200 crore taka and he wants know what happened to it.

Life is all about opportunity. So, it's the job of the Board or in a broader perspective a job of the government to provide the opportunities for the talents from Tetulia to Teknaf to flower.

Mahbub Anam: I just want to clarify one thing which I think is misunderstood. Domestic cricket has not suffered. All the tournaments are going on as schedule including the school tournament. The junior level tournament which has been introduced by the board four years ago is still continuing.

I think the backbone of cricket is the under-13, under-15, under-17 and under-19 tournaments.

This is something the public should know. It is being progressively decentralised. Initially it was played on a divisional level. In the second year we played at the district- level. Now all the districts are participating within themselves and then a team is selected for the division and the second phase is played.

And as our ex-president KZ Islam has mentioned that he used to scout players to make his Nirman team, now it is the Board which takes the responsibility and builds under-13, under-15, under-17 and under-19 teams. They are housed in a residential camp in BKSP, they are nourished and coached with expert staff.

Utpal Shuvro: I want to mention one thing about regional cricket association. We heard about it many times before. It is a fantastic idea. I think it is not possible for the BCB alone to control cricket. It's not possible for BCB to go to 64 districts and tell them what to do. If divisional cricket associations are there they will be in charge and they will be accountable to the BCB. So it will be the first step towards decentralisation. I don't know why it has not happened. After Bangladesh won the ICC trophy, the then president Saber Hossain Chowdhury told us that this divisional association would be on top of his agenda.

The other problem I want to put emphasis on is the wickets. The main reason for the bad performance of our national team is that we are playing on substandard wickets at home. Our batsmen acquire wrong habits, bowlers get false sense of confidence and when they step into the international level they are exposed there. A lot is spent on the National League but it's still not up to the standard. The National Cricket League should be our main domestic competition but it's just being played in a picnic mood. There's no competitiveness, which can prepare the players for international level. And the main reason for this is the lack of regional cricket association because now the players who are playing in Dhaka, they are just divided into six teams and play for the divisional teams just like another club tournament because there is no real regional pride.

For example, someone like Sanwar Hossain, who was born in Mymensingh, has played his whole career in Dhaka.

Ziaul Islam: I just want to make a reference, in 1980, I went to Hyderabad to play some matches for Azad Boys Club in the Mainudolla Gold Cup. In Hyderabad they organised about 110 matches throughout their season. In Dhaka, in a season there are ten to maximum 15 maximum matches. You just see the difference.

Mahmud Ul Haq Manu: Actually all of us are saying let's take cricket outside of Dhaka. But we are not doing that. In the last Board, we made the first cricket calendar in 2001. We had a big plan to arrange the Club Cup tournament. The BCB should take the initiative at all the six divisional headquarters. The BCB should organise the Premier League in Chittagong, Rajshahi, Khulna, Barisal and Sylhet and all the champion teams will play centrally in Dhaka and from Dhaka we can include two teams the Premier League champions and runners-up. That would have been a wonderful tournament because the way we are playing the National League in at the moment, it has no charm.

The system has to be changed. If you want to ensure infrastructural development, good wickets, good coaches, good umpires, at the same time you have to have a good domestic cricketing structure. Without good domestic cricket we can't improve our national cricket.

I believe the Dhaka League is very important for us although there is need of decentralisation.

The future of a lot of players is dependent on Dhaka League.

Saber Hossain: I think the first point that should be addressed is the structure of the domestic cricket. When we applied for the ICC Test status the first thing they looked at was our structure of domestic cricket. And that time in a National Championship we had sixty four teams, sixty-four district each had a team, ICC's view was this was too diluted a system. It didn't provide quality because if you have sixty-four teams who are competing at the national-level and you have a pool of twenty players, who are really national material, then you can imagine that in every three teams they are going to be one national player. So the first thing we did was instead of having 64 districts we brought it down to six divisional teams and this is where our cricket started. If we talk about development of the game you have to talk about the integrity of the your first-class structure.

If your first-class cricket is not strong your Test level performance is not going to be satisfactory. If you look at the current Test teams, the reason why Australia is at the top is because the gap between their first-class cricket and the standard of their Test cricket is minimal. Any player from the first-class structure can walk into the national team. So when we talk about our domestic cricket we should look at ways and means of strengthening the first-class structure because that is the structure that is going to provide you cricketers for your national team. I don't wish to be personal in any of the attack and I think you have all seen that I have not been president of the cricket board now for two and half an years and this is the first public forum or dialogue that actually I am taking part in. I made some observations after the World Cup and then also some observation I made from my party platform but other than that I didn't say much because I felt the Board has to run in its own way and we want to make the task easier. But I think a question that has to be asked is why did we abandon the home and away system of our National League? We introduced a system where in a National League the six divisions would play each other on home and away basis. You see it's one thing to say that you want to decentralise the game and it's another to actually try and institutionalise the decentralisation concept. And the way of doing that was for a team to play at home and then for a team to go away and play in the other territory.

The infrastructure in all those divisional stadiums would also have improved. Our players would have had the experience of travelling from one place to the other. What happens in the English County season? They go around various counties and they play.

What happens in the Pura Cup in Australia? They go around various states and play.

But we stopped that and I'm glad that the BCB has reintroduced this because I think that was suicidal and that was counter productive and that was regressive. I don't know what motivated the Board to do that because that is where we went wrong at the time when we should have been concentrating on that and strengthening the base. We in fact brought all of the cricket back to Dhaka.

So, how can you expect our national team players to perform at the Test level when they are only playing six games and all in Dhaka instead of the ten or twelve games that they played before? You see, we demand and we expect performance from players. But if we don't organise our domestic structure in such a way that they are equipped to play Test cricket, how can we expect them to perform? Mahbub Anam spoke of the development programme that we have. You see, when you talk about the domestic structure, you will have two motivations, you will have two targets. One is your first-class cricket and the other is development programme. And we now have the under-13. When we introduced it even the Australians didn't have that. We didn't get the Test status on the basis of our playing ability. We got Test status on the basis of potential and opportunity. Because people felt there was a good potential. So, I think what is very important is our domestic structure should have two dimension. One is the first-class cricket and the other is the development dimension because we have to create a pipeline that is going to feed our national team.

Now where is this pipeline going to come from? Other major issue which has to be addressed is the perennial conflict between club cricket and district cricket.

You see, the way Bangladesh cricket has evolved, it has been club cricket that has played the pioneering role. It has been the cricket in Dhaka and in the past, the cricket in Chittagong. So, the clubs have a huge contribution. But as each system evolves, you have to rely on your regional system rather than on the clubs. I'm not saying you have to do away with the clubs but you have to find the right balance. In the past we have seen that the club interest and the club lobby is also very strong. You know, lot of us have club affiliations. Now when we come from a club affiliation and we are sitting in the Board, it is very difficult to take a decision that is going to go against the interest of the clubs.

So, you have to come out of this. I don't call it a vicious circle but I think it's a circle that doesn't have to promote the game in Bangladesh. And we have to find that balance. May be then the clubs can be encouraged to play the three-day version of the game. May be the clubs can be encouraged to play the four-day version of the game because the players are essentially the same. So, this is an issue that also has to be addressed.

KZ Islam: In the future, I would like to see the national cricketers coming not from Mohammedan Sporting or Abahani and Brothers Union but they are coming from Chittagong, they are coming from Sylhet and they are coming from Rajshahi. Is cricket in England restricted to London? Is cricket in Australia restricted to Melbourne? Is cricket in India is restricted to the city of Bombay? They come from the various parts of the country. And the national cricketers do not identify themselves as coming from a particular club, they come from the zones.

Mahfuz Anam: I think that the point of decentralisation and having it spread out or sent out to Dhaka has been well made. I think we all agreed on this both past and present leadership. So, can we move to the next item, which I think many people identified at the beginning. That is management set up. And I think also the point that KZ Islam made at the very outset that the politicisation of the whole cricketing management. There is a one management there, they have their own ideas and then there is a change of the government and you have sweeping change in the cricket leadership. I wish Ali Asghar had arrived because I was deliberately waiting for him to come when we started this subject because as the president of the BCB he is the top manager in a sense. Anyway, when we went around in the table in the morning asking what is the number one problem, I think many of you identified the whole issue of efficient leadership. People who know cricket, who are good managers should be at the top. So, can we start off with this question of management?

Mahbub Anam: What I have identified as the first priority is management. And as I mentioned that the strategic plan that we have in place now is with the assistance of Cricket Australia, it introduces a management structure that is provided for

efficient and effective administration and development of cricket now and into the future. I would like to elaborate a little bit. There may be a misconception of management. The misconception is who is Board and who is management?

So far, this organisation has been on honorary or volunteer basis. Everybody is a volunteer. We give time only after doing our own businesses or jobs. Except the Chief Executive Officer everyone is a volunteer. So, what I'm saying is we have to find the concept what is management. Is it the Board? The Board is an honorary position, which can be retained by individuals, and I'm sure that is going to change over when the Government changes. That's the trend in this country. But we must create a management structure which should have the continuity in producing and taking the good of what has happened in the past.

Mahfuz Anam: May I clarify, you are now suggesting a separation of a management structure and a policy making structure. The policy makers would be the Board while the management will be the executing authority of the policies. Will they be paid?

Mahbub Anam: Yes. Except probably India which has a large cricket culture, no other body in the cricketing fraternity or Test arena has a voluntary organisation except Bangladesh. Every other cricket organisation in the world is a business house run by professionals. We must have professional body running the game of cricket here. What we look forward from there is a new organogram looking after individual faculty of cricket. Let it be cricket operations, development, domestic cricket, grounds and finance. The Board did have some employees in different fields like in accounts.

But the reporting structure was not there. Each of them would report to twenty Board directors or 31 Board directors. So, there was no hierarchy, there was no structure that would really take our cricket forward.

Plans are not being implemented because we are all offering voluntary service. I can only give time when I have time.

However, a professional set up is in the process of implementation. In the next six months, we expect the entire organogram to come into effect with paid staff. Six months onwards executives will be expected to run the Board. That's why Maqbul Hussein Dudhia has been employed as a first step of going forward. We are taking and going through interviews. Appointments should be finalised in three months.

Mahfuz Anam: Is there any legal aspect you need to sort out before going professional?

Mahbub Anam: We will go through the constitution. But the Board has the right to employ people without any legal bar.

Mahfuz Anam: Can we say that this decision is final?

Mahbub Anam: Yes. The decision was also taken in the past. The first interview was also held but we could not employ the person we wanted. But we must carry forward the good things that have been done by past Boards. We should find out positives and move forward.

Going into the constitution, I fully agree with the concept of regional associations. All the other cricketing nations work on a regional base. We have proposed the government to refurbish the entire constitution and include regional cricket associations.

Saber Hossain: I don't have any doubts about the importance of a professional set-up. But it's not a new concept. The system of having salaried persons started in the past. We had Shafiqul Haque Hira. So we have had this system of individuals being paid so that there's a greater degree of accountability.

The basic challenge with Bangladesh cricket today is taking it out of the micro context and take it to a macro level. How do we see ourselves as a cricketing nation? Where do we want to be in ten years time? How do we compete with other sports in terms of attracting talents?

I know people have accused me of undermining football but when you are trying to develop a game, you have to be single-minded about it.

Cricket has to be the premier sport in Bangladesh in terms of attracting players and fans. So the first thing I'm competing with is other sports.

It has to be the premier sport in terms of sponsorship, television coverage.

Mahbub is very right. We have to build on positives. But we don't have that magnanimity. The first thing we do is try and undermine what have been achieved. But we have to own up and say that getting the Test status was a right decision. If anybody speaks against that, the Board has to be the first body to stand up and protest.

We have to show the people of the country that we mean business. If we lose credibility as the Board, the president and others, then we are really undermining the game.

Management or let's say the president, how much power does he really have? Does he really call the shots? Do we have informal centres of power within the Board?

These are questions you have to address and they apply to past, current and future Boards. Now that makes it all the more important as to why there should be a sound and independent management.

We don't need politicians to decide policies. It should only be a question of execution and implementation.

Now we are talking about the CEO. This decision we took five years ago. It was my failure that I wasn't able to find a competent person.

We have all the right plans, words and presentations but we lack implementation. Even if we implement, we can't ensure continuity.

There has to be a consensus on how we want to take the game forward. But we don't have that mentality. Whatever success we have we try to be a part of it and we all try and claim that we are responsible for that success.

Mahmud Ul Haq Manu: When we decided on directorship during the Cox's Bazar AGM in 2001, it was aimed at creating professionalism. The present board president has created a constitution committee, which has again recommended for an executive body. Doesn't this step contradict with Mahbub Anam's statement that you are trying for an efficient professional management while on other hand policymakers are pushing for an executive committee of secretaries and joint secretaries?

Mahbub Anam: I am not contradicting. I have said that the constitution is in the process. What Manu has pointed out has not been finalised.

Mahmud Ul Haq Manu: There's a legal complication. The High Court has suspended the activities of the present Board as the petitioner claimed that it was run by an executive body and then shifted to a form of board of directors which was against the NSC constitution. You are again moving in that same direction. Doesn't that contradict with the High Court's ruling?

Mahbub Anam: I think matters that lie with the court should not be discussed here. I have given my opinion as an individual.

Mahfuz Anam: But what's the issue here?

Mahbub Anam: There have been certain drawbacks in the constitution, which have been challenged in the court of law.

Mahfuz Anam: So for you to set up an independent management set-up you have to have a new law?

Mahbub Anam: Employing people is not the question. It's the structure of the Board. Whether to call the policy makers directors, advisors or general secretaries. The structure has been challenged in the court. We are talking about of the NSC Act 1974.

Mahfuz Anam: So to make some changes you need to change the act. That law does not permit you to have some things, which you want. These are now in the process of being recommended to the government. So some sort of legal framework amendment is necessary for you to go into the direction you want.

Mahbub Anam: That's right.

Faruque Ahmed: The Board needs to find the priorities under the management.

Especially, the venues have to be looked after by a group of professionals. They will be accountable to the Board. I believe the Board is seriously short of curators.

We have maybe 64 stadiums in 64 districts but matches can be played in only ten of them. This is because the local district sports associations who are responsible for the maintenance of those venues in most cases are not in a position to look after the grounds properly, as they don't have the necessary knowledge.

Sometimes, we have gone to a district to play and I found the BCB curator arriving just the day before the match. What can he do to the wicket in a day's time?

Regarding professionalism, we have started the process but as our resources are less, we have to prioritise the fields that need most attention. We have to employ professional people in key posts so that they are accountable.

Mahfuz Anam: The CEO is a nice concept but does he have the authority? For example, I am the CEO of the Daily Star. There is a board of directors who give the policy but once the meeting is over I am the captain of the ship. Does he have that executive power or does he have to run all the time to the chairman, president whoever? Does he have that legal and structural authority because ultimately what authority means is can I blame him for not getting things done?

KZ Islam: Worldwide companies, institutions, organisations are run by CEOs. To the best of my knowledge so does all the other cricket boards excepting India.

In my opinion, Dudhia should be the all in all. But unfortunately three very, very powerful and influential persons chairman of cricket committee, chairman of tournament committee and chairman of grounds committee who I think in society and by and large are more powerful people than the chief executive. Now how is the chief executive going to control, overrule and advice other committees? The heads of all these committees should be paid people and under the CEO who should be accountable to the Board.

The Board should lay down the policy for the CEO to carry it out. This is the normal principle of management. You cannot have two bosses in the same house.

Maqbul Hussein Dudhia: On the point of support, to date I can only say that I have had full one hundred per cent support. There's no question about it. From the president down to the Board they have given me basically a free hand to run and they have been very, very supportive. I must say that categorically.

Jalal Ahmed Chowdhury: The cricket fraternity wants the CEO to be our round the clock spokesman for the Board. We also want him as our helping hand. At the moment that's not happening.

Khandokar Jamil Uddin: I fully agree with Saber Hossain Choudhury that there should be continuity. This Board has appointed the CEO and has brought in a number of high profile foreign coaches. A lot of money has been invested. Now, say there's a change in government and the new Board says that the CEO is being paid too much and we should start looking at local resources etc. What will happen then? So we have to reach a consensus that this is good for the game and should be continued for the next three to five years irrespective of who ever is running the Board.

Mahbub Anam: Where we are at the moment and the direction we are going, is a continuity of what has happened. I worked closely with Saber in the last Board and we had developed a draft development programme and there was also a very interesting agreement with Cricket Australia, which would have given us a wide range of support. Somehow or rather we haven't take much advantage of that agreement which was reached in 2001 and was a five-year deal.

The strategic plan and an operational plan. At this moment we expect next month to make it public and continued whoever comes in future. That could be the book that can take our cricket to the future. (Mahfuz Anam asks Saber Hossain Chowdhury to say something)

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