Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Tamim Iqbal's latest hike in domestic match fees has drawn wide praise, but questions remain over whether all cricketers will get enough playing opportunities to benefit from it.
Tamim announced the increase on Thursday, the second such hike in five months after an earlier rise in April. The latest revision lifts first-class match fees by 114.29 percent, while List A and T20 fees double from last season. Women's match fees have also doubled across all three formats.
Tamim said a player completing the domestic season could now earn Tk 35-40 lakh a year including salary, more than Tk 3 lakh a month on average.
But only 21 players across eight teams played all seven matches in last season's National Cricket League four-day competition, while no Rangpur Division player featured in all 10 of the team's T20 matches, according to BCB data.
Under the new fee structure, a player appearing in all seven NCL four-day matches can earn Tk 10.5 lakh, with a further Tk 20.5 lakh possible from a proposed new six-team, three-format domestic structure.
A Chattogram Division cricketer said the benefit "is not going to be there for all the players," noting that national and 'A' team players are best placed to gain since they also feature in the BPL and DPL.
The BCB hopes a newly proposed NCL Second XI will widen opportunities for players outside the main system, though its match fee has not yet been decided.
