Former and current cricketers of Bangladesh are all set to come under a new platform to protest against the new constitutional changes made by the Bangladesh Cricket Board that denied them a councillorship.  
The BCB in its last Extraordinary General Meeting on March 2 approved the abrogation of the clauses 9.3.7 and 9.3.8 from its constitution, abridging the right of the 15 former cricketers to be councillors of the board.
Some 10 former cricketers had a long meeting on successive days at a social club to assess the current situation prevailing in the board and have finally decided to float a new organisation.
The organisation titled ‘Cricketers of Bangladesh’ will be unveiled at a press conference on March 8.
‘The Cricketers of Bangladesh will form a platform from where we can raise our voice against the injustice done to cricketers by denying them the right of councillorsship,’ said former cricketer Shakil Kashem.
‘Although we are stakeholders, we (cricketers) are not included in any decision making process in the board, which is a matter of grave concern for us,’ said Shakil.
‘Cricketers’ councillorship was incorporated in the constitution of 2003 and 2008 and it all cannot be wrong overnight,’ he said.  Shakil, however, said the new organisation, is not an alternative to Cricket Welfare Association of Bangladesh, an organisation led by former captain Naimur Rahman, which has failed to protect the interest of the cricketers completely. ‘CWAB is there and very much alive but they have limitations. But we want to protest from all corners and that is why we are making the COB,’ said Shakil.
A former national skipper said that the cricketers’ role is also not clearly defined in newly-approved regional cricket associations. ‘We are still not sure what will be our role in the regional cricket associations also. It has to be defined clearly. I just hope the new organisation will help us in establishing our rights in the regional bodies as well,’ he said.