Bangladesh coach fears rebel Indian league impact

Julie Clothier

India's rebel cricket league has the potential to cripple the sport in Bangladesh and jeopardise its Test status if it poaches more players from the national squad, coach Jamie Siddons has said.

He said losing more players to the Indian Cricket League (ICL) would likely spell the end of Test status Bangladesh gained eight years ago.

"If we were to lose another six players out of our current team it probably would cripple us. I don't see how we can be competitive if that happens again," he said on the eve of the team's departure for South Africa on Saturday.

"I don't know how we stop them either, that's the hard part. There's no way to put an end to it when the ICL keeps throwing that sort of money at the players. Cricket is definitely going to suffer." Bangladesh cricket chiefs in September banned 13 players for 10 years after they signed with the unauthorised ICL, reportedly for 200,000 dollars each over a three-year period.

The Bangladeshi cricketers, led by former captain Habibul Bashar, are playing for Dhaka Warriors in the ongoing ICL.

Siddons, a former assistant coach with the Australian team, said he was trying to encourage his players to wait until they had retired from international cricket before signing with the ICL.

"They (ICL) are taking young players who are not even at their peak yet and offering them lots of money. The players see the dollar signs and go," he said.

Siddons said in a country like Bangladesh, where competitive domestic cricket was non-existent, losing players at international level came at a heavy price.

DHAKA, Sunday (AFP)