Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hasan Thursday termed former International Cricket Council president AHM Mostafa Kamal's decision to resign as unfortunate.
The Kamal-ICC spat was ignited following the quarter-final between Bangladesh and India in the recently concluded 2015 ICC World Cup.
Many thought that Kamal's resignation might sour the bilateral ties between the BCB and the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) but Nazmul believes their relationship with the Indian board is intact and will not be affected by the recent episode.
“I cannot find any reasons for that (strained relationship between the BCB and the BCCI). It (Kamal's resignation) has nothing to do with the relation of these two countries. We notified our concerns about the game, not India or its team. We never complained against a certain country. When we made a written complaint [to the ICC] a day after the game (March 20), we only stressed that, despite being available, technology was not being used and it happened more than once,” Nazmul told the media Thursday.
Nazmul emphasised that Kamal spoke in his capacity as the ICC president and not as a BCB representative.
Regarding the BCB's observation on the umpiring in the Bangladesh-India quarter-final, Nazmul said they did their part by voicing their concerns. The BCB boss informed that ICC CEO David Richardson assured him and the board that they would investigate and analyse the game ball-by-ball.
“Just after the Bangladesh-India match, we wrote a letter to the ICC containing our observation. The initial response from the ICC came from CEO Dave Richardson. He said they will investigate it ball-by-ball and would later let us know following their analysis,” he said.
The ICC, through a media release last Wednesday, said it will discuss the vacant president's post in its next meeting on April 15-16. In accordance with the constitution of the ICC, Bangladesh will get the chance to name a representative of their choice for the vacant position.
“Kamal was a choice of the Bangladesh government which the BCB passed on to the ICC. If the BCB is asked again, a similar process may be followed. The system indicated that the ICC had asked the BCB to give the name of a candidate. We gave a name following the approval by the Bangladesh government. The next ICC meeting is very important for us to know what they are thinking of at the moment. We have to know the procedure. We also have to speak to the honourable Prime Minister because the last person was approved by her as well,” he said.
The BCB supremo further informed that the board holds healthy relations with most of the ICC member nations and has received support from ICC chairman Narayanaswami Srinivasan in the past.
“We were in real trouble ahead of the Asia Cup and the ICC World Twenty20 in 2014. The situation in our country was very negative but Srinivasan and a few others stepped up in our support and as a consequence of that, we hosted both the tournaments successfully.”
Nazmul also said they are planning to felicitate the national cricketers for their performance in the World Cup.
“We are planning to felicitate our cricketers. The programme will be held in a public place so that the general people can cheer for their national heroes. The board has already chalked out the plans and we will discuss it and finalise a date in the next board meeting [this Monday]. We want to finish this part before the Pakistan team arrive for the home series,” informed Nazmul.
