BCB introduces D3 Trophy to revive domestic cricket

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has announced a new domestic tournament structure, the 'Domestic Three Trophy', popularly known as 'D3', in an effort to bring back enthusiasm and competitiveness to the country's domestic cricket.

The tournament will combine three formats - T20, 50-over and four-day cricket - under a single structure.

Six companies-- H Bluestar, Walton Group, Citizen Bank, ACME Group, Seven Rings Cement and Fortune Group-- have acquired team ownership rights under three-year agreements.

Among them, BCB directors Fahim Sinha, Mizanur Rahman and Shahnian Tanim are associated with ACME Group, Fortune Group and H Bluestar respectively.

The D3 will bring together three existing domestic competitions while keeping the four-day National Cricket League (NCL) separate. The NCL T20, Bangladesh Cricket League (BCL) four-day and BCL one-day competitions will be incorporated into the new structure.

The announcement was made at a grand ceremony at a city hotel yesterday night, attended by State Minister for Youth and Sports Aminul Haque, BCB President Tamim Iqbal, board directors, national team cricketers and members of the coaching staff.

Speaking on the occasion, State Minister for Youth and Sports Aminul Haque said that the new initiative would contribute to the development of Bangladesh cricket.

"This tournament will not only inspire the future of Bangladesh cricket but also all sports in the country. If we can keep domestic cricket on the field for six to seven months a year, there will be a huge difference between those playing for the national team and those playing domestic cricket," he said.

BCB president Tamim Iqbal said the board was concerned about the declining appeal of domestic cricket and wanted to restore its vibrancy.

"We have often heard that domestic cricket has lost its colour, that there is no interest and that some people even call it picnic cricket. When we came to the board, we were concerned about this and thought about how we could bring that colour back to domestic cricket," he said.

The T20 edition of the D3 will begin on December 15 at the newly renovated Jibanananda Das Cricket Stadium in Barishal, marking the venue's return to cricket. The BCB plans to gradually expand the tournament to all divisions of the country.

The four-day competition will be held in January next year, while the 50-over tournament is scheduled for May.

A team will be allowed to sign a maximum of 23 cricketers through an auction across the three formats. Coaching staff, team analysts, physiotherapists and trainers will also be selected through a draft process.

The six teams also announced their icon players at the ceremony.

Mehidy Hasan Miraz will represent Walton, Towhid Hridoy will represent Fortune, Mosaddek Hossain ACME, Mushfiqur Rahim Seven Rings Cement, Nurul Hasan Sohan H Bluestar and Mohammad Naim will represent Citizen Bank.