“There aren’t many green lights for the BPL” – Lisa Sthalekar calls for change – There aren’t many green lights for the BPL – Lisa Sthalekar calls for change

Introduction

The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) has been running for more than a decade, but criticism surrounding the tournament has never really disappeared.

Controversies and Issues

Almost every season brings new controversies, with unpaid player salaries remaining one of the league’s most common and persistent issues. Several franchises have been accused of failing to pay players in recent editions of the tournament, with some disputes even ending up in court.

Lisa Sthalekar’s Call for Change

Against that backdrop, World Cricketers’ Association (WCA) president Lisa Sthalekar has called for improvements to help the BPL reach its potential. Sthalekar is currently in Bangladesh as part of the commentary team for the Bangladesh-Australia series.

Speaking to the media at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur, she shared her views on the state of the tournament. “What the World Cricketers’ Association does, and we have it on our website, is almost a traffic-light system of all the T20 leagues around the world. It’s to help players, administrators and agents understand what the issues have been and what the successful aspects of each T20 league are,” Sthalekar said.

“Obviously, if you look at the BPL, its traffic light doesn’t have a lot of green, unfortunately.”

Opportunity for Improvement

She believes the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s (BCB) new administration has an opportunity to improve the league’s reputation and make it more attractive to overseas players. “This is an opportunity for them as a new organisation and executive committee to work with the Bangladesh Cricket Board to ensure that overseas players want to come here and play, and that they can potentially move into the amber and green categories,” she said.

“And for it to be a tournament that people want to travel to and be part of because you’ve got some wonderful facilities and some wonderful cricketers. Obviously, that’s shown by how Bangladesh have been able to perform in recent times. So hopefully, the two organisations can work together and ensure that the BPL is as strong and prosperous as it can be.”

Importance of Honoring Player Contracts

Sthalekar also spoke about the importance of honoring player contracts and ensuring cricketers receive their salaries on time. “For professional cricketers, this is their job. It’s the same for journalists—you expect to be paid for your work I think for professional cricketers, it’s their job. All of you have jobs. You do your job, and you expect to be paid. I don’t think it makes a difference. A professional cricketer, if they’ve gone out and played cricket and done their job, should be paid for it. And if the system and structure have put frameworks and contracts in place, then they should be honoured. But that’s all domestic cricket, and that’s up to the players’ association here on the ground to work through,” she said.

Role of the World Cricketers’ Association

She explained that WCA primarily focuses on ICC events, while domestic issues in Bangladesh should be handled by the country’s own players’ association.

“What the World Cricketers’ Association tends to do is assist and help when we go into ICC events. We tend to operate at that next level. Our dealings are with the ICC; they’re not necessarily with the Bangladesh Cricket Board or Cricket Australia. That’s for the individual players’ association in each country. However, Mithun will be coming to London, where we have a board meeting. It’ll be exciting for him to be part of it, and no doubt he’ll learn a lot more about players’ associations and the programmes we run across the world,” she said.

Conclusion

Lisa Sthalekar’s call for change in the BPL highlights the need for significant improvements in the league to attract overseas players and ensure timely payment of salaries. With the new administration in place, there is an opportunity for the BCB to work with the players’ association to make the BPL a strong and prosperous tournament.