Steven Smith's BPL participation in doubt

FE Team | Published: December 12, 2018 00:11:25

Steven Smith

The participation of Steven Smith for the upcoming Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) hangs in balance with franchises expressing reservation over his inclusion, reports Cricbuzz.
Smith was signed up by Comilla Victorians as a replacement for Asela Gunaratne.
However, the problem with Smith's inclusion is that he was picked from outside the draft, which goes against the laws of the BPL. The matter has now been referred to the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB).
"We have referred the issue to the Bangladesh Cricket Board," Jalal Yunus, the BPL technical committee chairman, told the online sports portal on Tuesday following a meeting with the franchises. "
At first Rangpur Riders raised the issue but later other franchises joined them and informed about their reservation. So it turned out difficult for us to solve so we referred the issue to the board to solve it. We will take the decision in the next board meeting or we will inform it to them [Victorians] soon.
"To be honest they are not entitled to take any player outside the draft if they are replacing someone. They have to take it from the draft (in case a player is being replaced) but we obliged to their request of recruiting Steven Smith taking larger picture into consideration. But now it seem that cannot be implemented after the objection of other franchises unless BCB comes up with any other solution," Yunus added.