Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) marked the Siver Jubilee occasion of obtaining their Test status, with organsing a celebratory event at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur on Thursday. Most of the members of the inaugural Test squad attended the event but some of the key figures, who also played important role also were not present.
Specially, Saber Hossain Chowdhury and Syed Ashraful Haque, the then president and the general secretary of the BCB respectively, who played a pivotal role at the beginning of Bangladesh's Test status campaign, were not invited to the event and even not mentioned during the two-hour program.
Meanwhile, the first captain of the inaugural Test Naimur Rahman Durjoy, despite receiving an invitation, was unable to attend when former Test captains Akram Khan and Khaled Mashud Pilot missied due to personal reason in abroad.
The event began with the board president Aminul Islam Bulbul addressing the presence. Bulbul, who is also the centurion of the inaugural Test announced a decentralisation initiative to strengthen grassroots cricket.
"Today, on the occasion of our 25 years in Test cricket, I want to declare that we have selected four regions to form four mini BCBs," Bulbul said during the ceremony.
"There will be a head of cricket in each of the four regions, monitoring everything in their respective regions. We are thinking of holding premier league matches, coaching development programmes, and introducing a funding model so that they don't need to depend on Mirpur every time. We have initiated it in 2025 and between 2026 and 2027, we hope to bring U-17, U-19, first-class, women's and emerging teams from four regions," Bulbul said in his speech.
Meanwhile, chief guest and Youth and Sports advisor Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan pledged support, announcing plans to install synthetic pitches in 100 schools across the country through BCB.
Meanwhile, the board honoured the inaugural Test cricketers, who are also going to mark the silver jubilee of their maiden Test this November, with commemorating blazers, as they recollected the memories while signing a ceremonial jersey on stage.
Left-arm spin maestro Mohammad Rafiqu, when addressing in the function said, “I'm feeling so great to meet all those players with whom I played the inaugural Test 25 years ago. I hope to see similar programmes continue in the coming years as well.,"
An honours board of Test players' was unveiled following the formalities and the occasion was concluded with a cake-cutting and group photo session.
