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Amid the uncertainties over the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), the nation's only T20 franchise league, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) announced a massive salary hike of their cricketers, including men's and women's cricket, in domestic cricket. BCB head Tamim Iqbal informed the public of the salary hike on August 3 through the media.
BPL used to be a lucrative earning stage for the local cricketers of Bangladesh. Due to financial reasons, BCB put the league in a halt, which cast uncertainty over the league's future. Amid the uncertainty of the league, a section of cricketers expressed their displeasure to the Cricketers Welfare Association.
BCB introduces new salary structure for Men's domestic cricket in Bangladesh
The board informed the media that it decided to double the cricketers' salary in every domestic tournament. As per the latest salary structure of the Bangladesh Cricket Board, for every first-class match, men’s cricketers will receive Tk 1.5 lakh instead of Tk 70,000.
For the List A matches, the salary has been increased from Tk 50,000 to Tk 1 lakh per match. And for the domestic T20 matches, cricketers will receive Tk 80,000 instead of Tk 40,000 for each match.
New salary structure for women's domestic cricket in Bangladesh
On the other hand, the women's cricketers will also receive an improved payment scale. The match fee has been increased from Tk 20,000 to Tk 40,000 for a women’s four-day match.
For the women's one-day matches, the salary slab has been increased from Tk 15,000 to Tk 30,000, and for the women's T20 matches, the improved salary will be Tk 20,000 from Tk 10,000.
Tamim Iqbal explains the massive salary hike
Speaking to the reporters, Tamim Iqbal stated that they decided to increase the payment to the cricketers as the BPL will not take place this year. Tamim mentioned that in the franchise league, around 50 to 70 cricketers used to play, but in domestic cricket, there are around 150 to 200 cricketers. Many of these cricketers could be hit finanical crisis without the franchise league. So the board decided to double the payment structure.
"So, what we have all decided together is that, overall, in the BPL, you will see 50, 60, 65, 70 local cricketers play. But if you think about Bangladesh cricket, in first-class, List A, T20, there are plus or minus 150 to 200 cricketers involved."
"Now, their well-being in the Dhaka League, maybe financially, what it was two or three years ago, perhaps that has dropped. Plus, because the BPL will not take place this year, there can be a financial impact,” Tamim Iqbal said in Mirpur.
"Everything has increased by 100% or more. And what is the benefit of doing this? That is the question. Now, if a domestic cricketer plays the full season, including his salary, if my calculation is not wrong, plus or minus, they will earn Tk 35 lakh to Tk 40 lakh annually. If you divide that by 12, a player will have an income of more than Tk 3 lakh per month,” he explained.
