Umpires write to BCB president after being ‘vilified’

A three-member investigation committee was formed by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) after allegations of questionable umpiring were made during the National Cricket League (NCL). Umpires' trainer and former international umpire Enamul Haque, match referee Selim Shahed and umpires' committee manager Avi Abdullah Al Noman were part of the committee that submitted a report and based on that, seven NCL umpires were not included in the panel officiating in the ongoing Bangladesh Cricket League (BCL).

Iftekhar Ahmed Mithu, chairman of the BCB's umpires' committee, addressed the media about the issue. The umpires felt it was "disrespectful" and days after that, the Bangladesh Cricket Umpires and Scorers Association wrote to the BCB president Nazmul Hassan on Thursday, claiming that the umpires and their families had been disrespected immensely.

"Umpires can make mistakes when they officiate the game with naked eyes," the letter read. "The performances of umpires are evaluated based on observations of the match referee and reports of the captains and if any action is taken, everything is done internally. Nowhere in the world, the news of umpires being punished are made public. Even the ICC follows that as well. Since the establishment of the Bangladesh Cricket Board, such incidents have been unprecedented."

"On 2 and 5 December, the current umpires' committee chairman called reporters of print and electronic media and provided photographs of senior umpires and gave a statement vilifying the senior and experienced umpires."

"On 2 December, Mr Chairman said in a meeting that six umpires would be removed from the BCL as per the recommendation of the tournament committee chairman [Ahmed Sazzadul Alam Boby]. The tournament committee chairman dismissed the claim as 'baseless'. We don't understand how the umpires' committee chairman could give false information."

The letter written to Nazmul Hassan further read, "Honourable president, you have been very helpful in increasing facilities for the improvement of the umpires. Similarly, the Bangladesh Cricket Umpires and Scorers Association has been working hand in hand with you. But the behaviour of the umpiring committee has hurt us deeply."

Iftekhar Ahmed has completely denied the allegations. He told The Business Standard, "I don't understand how I disrespected them. I never disclosed the names or number of suspended umpires. Then how did they say these? I directed not to include a few umpires in the BCL. Their allegations are completely baseless."