At a news briefing in Dhaka on Tuesday, the BCB chief slammed the striking players for going on strike without informing the authorities about their demands beforehand.
The cricketers’ demands are baseless as the BCB is already working to resolve the issues, he said.
The Bangladesh team is expected to tour India soon to play three T20s and two Tests. At this time, the BCB chief said it was a conspiracy to disrupt the tour, which is just days away.
Surprised by the boycott, he said, “It is not understandable why the cricketers did not inform the BCB about their demands before they decided to go on strike.”
“They have access not only to me, but also to the prime minister. If they had anything to say they could speak,” Nazmul Hassan said.
The BCB president, however, did not explain how to resolve the issues.
He said the striking players have “successfully tarnished the image of Bangladesh to some extent in the cricket world”.
The cricketers went on strike on Monday, demanding a pay hike.
They announced the strike from a news conference led by Shakib Al Hasan at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Dhaka on Monday.
Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim and other top cricketers were present at the event.
The development comes a month after the BCB decided to abandon the Bangladesh Premier League franchise-based model, resulting in the fall of the income of the cricketers.
Their 11-point demand includes immediate resignations of president and general secretary of Cricketers Welfare Association of Bangladesh, reversing the BCB’s decision to abandon the franchise-based model and lifting the salary cap in the Dhaka Premier League.
CWAB President and former captain Naimur Rahman Durjoy, who also sits on the board, was present at the BCB press conference.
Nazmul did not seem eager to comment on the cricketers’ demand for resignation of the CWAB leaders as the issue is not directly linked to BCB.
He, however, said the board had been against recognising the association but had done so at the “request of many”.
While launching the controversial “Players by Choice” system in DPL, under which the players do not have the option to demand pay and choose team, Nazmul had said it would be discontinued after the first edition.
He said on Tuesday he has already given his nod to the demand.
Asked why the system continued for years, Nazmul claimed the cricketers had not opposed it earlier, though the board had denied the cricketers’ call for quashing the system and instead listened to the requests of the clubs, which have recently been hit by illegal casino scam.
Nazmul had also said the franchise-based system would be brought back to Bangladesh Premier League after this year’s special edition, but the cricketers could not put much trust on his words after the DPL fiasco.
“I have been saying it since the beginning that the old system will be brought back the next time,” he said about BPL on Tuesday.
The BCB president did not say anything about the disparity in pay of foreign and Bangladeshi players in BPL.
Brothers Union owe the cricketers 40 percent of the payments from the last DPL. The BCB chief assured the cricketers thay will be paid up by the next league, though under the BCB rules the dues should have been paid much earlier.
About the demand for raising the salary of the cricketers and number of cricketers under BCB’s central contract, Nazmul said the board has more cricketers under contract than other countries do.
“How many will we keep? Will we pay 200 to 300 cricketers? And their pay has been raised several times after we took charge,” he said.
For first-class cricketers, “We are not paying bad,” Nazmul said.
In reality, though, the first-class cricketers’ pay rose very little in past six to seven years while the number of cricketers under central contract has dwindled.
“I won’t pay them. They can’t play,” Nazmul asserted.
But he hinted payments may rise in national league.
“We’ve raised (payment) from Tk 25,000 to Tk 30,000 (second phase) and from Tk 35,000 to Tk 40,000 (first phase). But they didn’t ask for a further raise. It can be increased more,” he said.
The BCB boss dismissed the demand for raising the number of one-day domestic tournaments.
“Ask them (cricketers) when. We will organise tournaments. But they must play and increase fitness,” Nazmul said.
Shakib had said cricketers should be kept in hotels with swimming pool and gymnasium and be transported by good buses during first-class tournaments.
“Does a player, who doesn’t play league, know anything? Has he lived in hotel, taken a bus ride? It would be acceptable if a player, who did these, spoke,” Nazmul replied.
Farhad Reza had raised the issue of giving the players the scope to play more than two franchise tournaments if there are not many games of the national team.
“A player who has no value in franchise cricket, who has never been and never will be called, says cricketers must be allowed to play more than two leagues!” the BCB chief said about the senior cricketer.
“What nonsense are you talking? Is this a joke?” Nazmul thundered.
The cricketers have also demanded financial security of grounds crew, umpires and staff members.
“What's the relation between them and the game? What do they want to prove? What do they have to do with the staff’s salary? Why are they speaking about umpires, groundsmen?
“These are nothing but part of a conspiracy. I will be glad if I am proven wrong. But there are enough reasons to be suspicious,” the BCB boss said.
He also criticised top players for leading the strike.
“Even the prime minister play with their children. What treatment they want? Can a single cricketer say that they have been misbehaved with?”