The Cricket Welfare Association of Bangladesh (CWAB) has agreed to the Bangladesh Cricket Board's decision to pause the BPL for a year, though players have asked for an alternative tournament or compensation to offset the financial losses that would follow.

CWAB representatives met BCB president Tamim Iqbal at the board's Mirpur office on Sunday, following a separate meeting the previous day in which three BPL franchises had already given their own approval to the pause.

Mohammad Mithun, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Saif Hassan, Nasir Hossain, Marshall Ayub, Anamul Haque, Yasir Ali Chowdhury and Fazle Mahmud Rabbi attended on behalf of the players, while Tamim was joined by BPL Governing Council chairman Fahim Sinha, Finance Committee chairman Israfil Khosru, Women's Wing chairman Rafiqul Islam Babu and several other directors.

Nasir Hossain, speaking to the media afterwards as the players' representative, said the board had explained its reasoning clearly and that the cricketers largely accepted the logic behind the pause.

"The cricket board has always been beside the players and is still there. We mainly talked about the BPL and why it is not happening this time. The board explained the matter to us nicely," he said.

Tamim had previously revealed the BCB suffered losses of around 40 crore taka across the tournament's last two editions, and had said he was unwilling to continue the competition without proper structural reform and a sustainable long term plan in place.

Nasir acknowledged the financial impact the pause would have on players, saying discussions had focused on how to soften that blow.

"If the BPL is not held, the players will face financial losses. So we discussed what could be done in place of the BPL for the benefit of the players and what the cricket board could do," he said.

With the BPL usually occupying December and January on the calendar, CWAB has pushed for a replacement tournament to be organised during that window, partly to give players a financial cushion.

"If another tournament could be organised during the one and a half months allocated for the BPL, it would be very good. Whether such a tournament will be held has not yet been finalised. The matter will become clearer at the next meeting," Nasir said.

Both sides exchanged proposals during the meeting, though nothing has yet been formally agreed.

"They have given some proposals, and we have also given some proposals from our side. However, nothing has been finalised yet. We will sit again later and discuss it," Nasir said.

The BCB also raised the idea of introducing a fixed annual calendar for the domestic season, a proposal CWAB welcomed as a long overdue step towards greater predictability for players.

"Having a specific calendar would be very beneficial for the cricketers. They would know in advance what matches or tournaments would be held in which month," Nasir said, adding that the broader direction of the board's thinking, focused on players' futures over the next five to ten years, had been well received.