The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has introduced a new domestic cricket structure, handing team management and ownership to franchises for the first time in the country’s domestic cricket history.
The new tournament, named the ‘Domestic 3 Trophy’, or ‘D3 Trophy’, brings together three formats of the game—T20, 50-over cricket and four-day first-class matches.
The BCB unveiled the six franchise owners at a grand event at a hotel in the capital on Sunday. Six companies have been awarded team ownership rights under three-year agreements.
The franchises are H Bluster, Walton Group, Citizens Bank, ACI Group, Seven Rings Cement and Fortune Group.
The player draft for the inaugural D Three tournament will be held on October 26. Each franchise will be allowed to select a maximum of 23 players, with the same squad required to compete across all three formats. Teams will not be permitted to form separate squads for T20, one-day and four-day cricket.
According to the schedule, the new domestic structure will begin with the NCL T20 on December 15. First-class matches will be played in January, followed by the 50-over competition in May. The opening match of the tournament will be held at Barishal Stadium for the first time.
The BCB said each team will play at least 17 T20 matches, seven four-day matches and 16 one-day matches in a season, meaning every franchise will play a minimum of 42 matches.
Speaking about the new structure, BCB president Tamim Iqbal said there had been long-standing concerns about the declining appeal of domestic cricket, as well as allegations and discussions surrounding match-fixing.
“We have been discussing for a long time that domestic cricket has lost its appeal. There have also been various discussions about match-fixing at different times. Keeping these issues in mind, we have taken the initiative to bring back the previous appeal and interest in domestic cricket,” Tamim said.
He added, “One thing that I and my board strongly believe in is that we will continue to try. I do not know whether we will succeed or not, but one thing is certain—I or my board are not afraid of failure.”
