The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) isn't thinking on the lines of a pay cut for its staff and cricketers despite staring at significant financial losses, with their next two home series against Australia and New Zealand heading towards postponement or cancellation due to the global Covid-19 pandemic, reports Cricbuzz.
Bangladesh are scheduled to host Australia and New Zealand in June and August respectively for two Tests each, which are part of the ICC Test Championship but both the series now look highly unlikely.
Australian skipper Tim Paine earlier this week opined that the Bangladesh tour is 'unlikely to go ahead' whereas the New Zealand Cricket's chief executive officer, David White, indicated that they were thinking about postponing all future tours until things settle down.
"We are in a much better position compared to some other boards that are going to lose huge revenue. It's a situation that we cannot control. We have to wait until everything comes under control. There could be a schedule chaos which we cannot resolve. We have to get engaged with other stakeholders, including the ICC," said BCB's chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury on Friday.
"We are not thinking on these lines (pay cuts) at the moment. We are confident that we don't have to take such steps right now as we can survive for quite some time. And we hope by that time everything will return to normalcy. We are working out on how we can remain beside the cricketers and our other employees at this time of crisis."
BCB are desperately looking to ink a deal with a new national team sponsor as well as appoint a new broadcaster (deal with Gazi TV expires in April 2020) but it seems that the news of potential postponement/cancellation of series against Australia and New Zealand might make it difficult for them at the moment.
It's important to note that the postponement of the final leg of Pakistan tour and cancellation of the series against Ireland in the UK in May has already put them on shaky ground. Anglo-Dutch consumer giant Unilever is not ready to extend their team sponsor deal that expired in January and, as a result, the BCB were eyeing to replace them.
The board sought an Expression of Interest on January 2 for a two-year long team sponsorship with a floor price of Tk 55 crore but could not attract any sponsors before the home series against Zimbabwe. As a result, the BCB were forced to take an interim sponsor in Akash, a DTH company owned by Beximco, after they sponsored the women's national cricket team in the last edition of the World Cup.