D3 franchises lock in coaches and support staff through unique draft
The team management draft for the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s (BCB’s) new D3 tournament took place on Tuesday, with all six franchises confirming their coaching and support staff.
For the first time in a domestic competition in Bangladesh, franchises roped in support staff from a draft.
D3, formally launched at a Dhaka hotel event on Sunday, takes its name from the three formats it covers: first-class, List A one-day and T20.
It replaces the NCL T20, BCL four-day and BCL one-day competitions and features 42 matches. Tuesday's draft was the second major step in the rollout.
Former Bangladesh spinner Abdur Razzaq will coach the Walton side and the BCB High Performance Unit’s coach Mohammad Salahuddin will lead Fortune.
BCB coach Sohel Islam was appointed head coach of ACE Bluestar, former Bangladesh batter Rajin Saleh of ACME, Mizanur Rahman Babul of Citizens Bank and Talha Jubair of Seven Rings Cement.
Walton's assistants are Tushar Imran and Dollar Mahmud, while Fortune's are former national captain Mohammad Ashraful and Abdul Karim Juel.
Physiotherapists named were Bayejedul Islam Khan (Fortune), Enamul Haque (Walton), Delwar Hossain Siva (Seven Rings Cement), Joy Biswas (ACE Bluestar), Abu Reza MD Shoriful Alam (ACME) and Khairul Islam (Citizens Bank).
Strength and conditioning coaches are Subhashis Roy Bappi (Citizens Bank), Rubaiyat Haq (ACE Bluestar), Tushar Kanti Howladar (ACME), M. Moniruzzaman (Fortune), Iftekharul Islam Ifti (Seven Rings Cement) and Aslam Khan (Walton).
Performance analysts are Nasir Ahmed Nasu (Walton), Sandeep Kumar Raman (ACME), Anik Neogi (Citizens Bank), Amdadul Haque Leon (Fortune), Jahane Alam (Seven Rings Cement) and SM Zulfiqur Ali (ACE Bluestar).
The franchises are run by Ace Bluestar, Fortune Group, Citizens Bank, Walton Group, Seven Rings Cement and ACME under three-year agreements with the board, and each may register a 23-player squad across all three formats.
The BCB retains significant control over finances, setting spending limits for each team and determining salaries for players and coaching staff.
Each franchise has an icon player: Mehidy Hasan Miraz at Walton, Towhid Hridoy at Fortune, Mosaddek Hossain Saikat at ACME, Mushfiqur Rahim at Seven Rings Cement, Nurul Hasan Sohan at ACE Bluestar and Naim Sheikh at Citizens Bank.
The 19-match T20 phase opens the tournament at Barishal's Jibanananda Das Stadium on December 15, with organisers also exploring Khulna as a second venue and Dhaka as the fallback. Mirpur's Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium has been mentioned for later stages of the T20 leg.
The seven-match four-day league follows in January and the 16-match List A phase completes the schedule from May next year. Each franchise is guaranteed at least 12 matches and could play up to 17, depending on progress in each phase.
The players' draft follows on October 26, with each franchise picking 23 players ahead of the opening T20 leg.