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Bashundhara Group and Ba-ngladesh Agri-cultural Deve-lopment Corpo-ration (BADC) Krira Sangha will launch the first-ever Grameen-Phone Corporate Cricket League (CCL) at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on April 20.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has taken the 13-team CCL as a challenge to overcome the non-appearance of Dhaka clubs who have over the years dictated how the game is run in the country.

The Board was compelled to float the new league involving 12 corporate houses and invited Bangladesh under-19 side after influential capital clubs including two popular houses Mohammedan and Abahani decided not to take part in the Premier League that has been regarded as a major source of income for the cricketers.

Although the 11 corporate houses could only accommodate 147 cricketers in their line-ups, it was however not a bad figure at a stage when the cricketers were almost set to suffer a year of financial loss.

There was more good news for the players that CityCell, a leading cellular phone company, decided to make their presence felt in the unique competition. After missing the two-day registration proceedings, the country's first mobile phone operators are expected to rope in national vice-captain Rajin Saleh and pacer Tapas Baishya to complete their roster today.

The registration window will reopen today from 4-8pm and MM Ispahani, one of the leading tea companies of the country, are also set to take the advantage of the extended time. They have singed up five players so far and are likely to confirm the services of former national captain Minhazul Abedin Nannu, who is known for offering plenty of surprises when it comes to transfer talks.

The upcoming Corporate Cricket League will see a crisscross battle for the title as most teams compiled a strong line-up from the available pool of players including a few with international experience.

The league is scheduled to begin on April 20. The registration of players began on Tuesday at the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) conference room to the visible delight of the players who were boosted by the interest taken by the respective corporations participating in the league.

Although most of the fortified team were absent for the registration formalities in the first day, it all was in the talk about the possible destination of different players.

According to the information available, Bashundhara Group is set to field the best team on paper inclduing two former national skippers Akram Khan and Naimur Rahman in their squad.

The other possible inclusions in their side are Al Shahriar, Nafees Iqbal, Faisal Hossain, Alamgir Kabir and Abdur Razzak. Seam bowler Taposh Baisya, a member of the 10-man pool, could also become their player.

Beximco, Aktel, Arafh Apparels, Acme and Biman Bangladesh Airlines also appear strong contenders for the title alongside Bashundhara.
Alongside Niamur Rashid, Morshed Ali Khan, Md Ashraful and Mashudur Rahman who are already employees, Beximco picked up Azam Iqbal, Parvez Ahmed, Sazzad Ahmed Nadif Chowdhury.

A veteran in domestic cricket, Halim Shah will lead Arafh Apparels, who have picked up a few other decent cricketers in Ehsanul Hoque, Fahim Muntasir, Jamal Babu, Arafat Sunny, Md Nazmul, Mustadir Litu and Md Selim. Former national skipper Khaled Mashud is also negotiating with them to play a few matches before leaving for the West Indies.

Bangladesh Biman, a front-runner in Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League also gathered a good team with Sanwar Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahman, Hasanuzzaman, Rashedul Hoque, Humaiyun Kabir, Anisur Rahman, Aminul Islam Vola, and Sazzad Kadir.

National skipper Habibul Bashar will play for Acme alongside Hannan Sarkar, Ahsanullah Hasan, Ali Arman Rajan, Bikash Ranjan Das and Debobroto Pal.
Aktel have picked up leading national spinner Md Rafique, Manjarul Islam Rana, Tareq Aziz, Tamim Bashir and Golam Maula. Their business rival, Grameen Phone is also set to build a strong team with players like Khaled Mahmud, Alok Kapali and Tushar Imran.

It was learned that teams showed reluctance towards players included in the national pool as most of them are set to join the Bangladesh team for upcoming tour of West Indies.

The selected players will only be able to play a maximum of two or three matches for their respective office teams. The big names of the circuit, thus, struggled to find contracts for this short period.