NCL, Bangladesh's first T20 to miss national team stars

The Bangladesh Cricket Board’s (BCB) tournament committee has announced a packed domestic cricket calendar, with the 2026-27 season set to begin with the first-class National Cricket League (NCL) on 30 September. The committee will organise a total of 11 tournaments during the season.

Three of the first four announced competitions are recognised by the ICC. Two of them are first-class tournaments — the NCL and Bangladesh First Four-Day — while the other is the Bangladesh First T20. The BCB plans to complete these three tournaments between 30 September and 17 January next year.

However, the Bangladesh national team will be busy with international commitments during the same period. In 107 days from 29 September to 13 January, Bangladesh are scheduled to play five Tests, three One Day International series and eight T20 International series against Afghanistan, the West Indies and South Africa. As a result, despite increased match fees, it will be difficult for national team players to feature regularly in two of these three tournaments.

The NCL will begin while the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, as well as Bangladesh’s Test and tri-nation series against Afghanistan in the UAE are taking place. The tournament will then conclude during the home Test series against the West Indies. Therefore, the participation of national team stars in the competition, which offers Tk1.5 lakh match fees, remains uncertain.

However, the six-team Bangladesh First One Day tournament has been scheduled at a more favourable time by the tournament committee. The competition will run from 22 May to 17 June. After the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League concludes, with no international fixtures for the national team during that period, there is a strong possibility of having all national players available.

The six-team Bangladesh First T20, which replaces the NCL T20, is also likely to be held without the country’s top stars. Meanwhile, the Bangladesh First Four-day has been placed in a relatively free window, from 20 December to 17 January, giving the organisers a better chance of ensuring national team participation in the first-class competition.

Accepting that they could not find a convenient window, the tournament committee has acknowledged that, like previous years, the NCL will once again have to be organised without the national team stars.

BCB Tournament Committee manager Abu Emam Mohammed Kawsar said: “After calculating, we found that national team players will not be able to play more than three matches in the NCL in total. If there are injury-recovery concerns, the number of matches could reduce further. However, we will have several national team players available for the Bangladesh First T20. Those returning after playing Tests on the South Africa tour will be available from the beginning.”

Alongside national team players, members of the Bangladesh Under-19 squad will also be difficult to avail during this period. Bangladesh will play a five-match youth ODI series against Afghanistan away from home in October and November before taking part in the Asia Under-19 Cricket tournament.

Despite the busy international schedule of both the senior and Under-19 teams, Kawsar remains optimistic that the domestic competitions will be competitive.

“These tournaments will create big opportunities for emerging cricketers. We will have all the players from the HP and Under-23 teams available,” he added.