The fitness camp for the country鈥檚 premier first-class cricket competition, the National Cricket League, starts today.
National team selectors, captains and coaches of the eight teams, drafted the preliminary squads at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Wednesday.聽
According to the schedule, the league will start on October 14. Before that, the fitness camp will last until October 2. After the fitness test, the squads will be finalised.
鈥楾he captains and coaches generally submit a squad of 30 members. For the fitness camp, the squads have been reduced to 20-25 players,鈥� Abdur Razzak, one of the national team selectors, told the media.
This time the league will be held in a one tier system. As a result, there will be no relegations or promotions.
The league that gained its first-class status in the 2000-01 season had been divided into two tiers in the 2015-16 season.
Like the previous season, the league will be played with red Duke balls.聽Naim Sheikh of Dhaka Metro though thinks that it is harder to score with the Duke balls.聽
This season, the league will also see the return of the NCL T20s. That will also be in a single league format, meaning each team will play once against each other.
The T20 league will start on December 5. Razzak thinks the T20 league will create opportunities for more players.
鈥楾his is not something like a practice tournament for BPL [Bangladesh Premier League]. It is designed for the national team so that more players could come forward,鈥� Razzak said.聽
The league will see no practice matches. Coach of the defending Champions, Dhaka Division Dollar Mahmud, thinks it鈥檇 be great to have some pre-season games.聽
鈥楴ormally we start the preparation one month before the league. Normally in a country like India, there is a pre-season tournament. We鈥檝e also discussed it. They [BCB] also think it is a valid point. In future, they may add this,鈥� he said.