BCB Launches Six-Team Domestic Cricket Overhaul with T20s in 2026
The Bangladesh Cricket Board has signed off on a sweeping revamp of its domestic game, approving a six-team competition that will stitch together First-Class, List A One-Day and List A T20 cricket under a single, unified framework.
The new era is set to begin with the shortest format. A franchise-style T20 tournament has been pencilled in for December 2026, the first event to roll out under the structure and a clear signal of where the board believes the commercial and audience pull lies.
BCB confirmed that the Board had “agreed in principle” to the model, which will see six teams representing the country’s top corporate and financial institutions.
Cricbuzz understands that all six slots have already been snapped up by some of Bangladesh’s leading corporate houses, locking in ownership for an initial three-year cycle.
It is a significant shift. Instead of separate, loosely connected tournaments, the domestic calendar will now be anchored by a single competition umbrella, spanning four-day First-Class cricket, 50-over List A, and T20s. The intention is obvious: centralise branding, tighten standards, and give players a clearer, more lucrative pathway across formats.
The commercial backing is only one side of the move. The Board also signed off on a notable hike in match fees, a long-running demand from domestic professionals and one that arrived on the table via the BCB’s Working Committee.
Match Fees Structure
- Men’s players will earn Tk 1.5 lakh per match in four-day cricket
- Tk 1 lakh in One-Day games
- Tk 80,000 in T20s
- Those turning out in the National Cricket League 2nd XI will receive Tk 15,000 per match
Women’s domestic cricket has not been left behind. Match fees there have been set at Tk 40,000 for three-day cricket, Tk 30,000 for One-Day matches and Tk 20,000 for T20s, a clear acknowledgement that the women’s game must be part of any serious structural reform.
For Bangladesh’s domestic players, the message is blunt and welcome: the stakes are rising, and so is the pay. The real test will come in December 2026, when the first ball of the new T20 competition is bowled and the country discovers whether this ambitious blueprint can genuinely lift the standard of its cricketing pipeline.
