The morning schedule of the Dhaka Premier League (DPL) was severely disrupted on Friday after the playing squad of Brothers Union Cricket Club staged a full strike over unpaid wages. While five fixtures across alternative regional venues commenced promptly at 09:00, the match scheduled at the Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishthan (BKSP) facility between Brothers Union and Agrani Bank Cricket Club was abruptly abandoned.
Despite traveling to the multi-sport venue, the Brothers Union players refused to take the field or participate in any pre-match protocols.
Timeline of Contractual Violations
Multiple senior cricketers, speaking on the condition of anonymity, stated that the extreme measure was the direct consequence of repeated contractual breaches by the club’s administration. The players verified that they have received a mere 20 per cent of the total seasonal remuneration outlined in their signed employment documents.
The squad had previously been given explicit assurances by the board that a separate 50 per cent installment would be fully disbursed prior to the Eid festive period. Following continuous unfulfilled promises, the players delivered a final notice to the executive committee on Thursday night. When the club failed to transfer the outstanding funds by Friday morning, the squad carried out their planned boycott.
The baseline facts surrounding the cancelled fixture are structured in the table below:
| Tournament Event | Competing Clubs | Facility Location | Scheduled Time | Official Match Status |
| Dhaka Premier League | Brothers Union vs Agrani Bank | BKSP Ground | 09:00 | Agrani Bank awarded full walkover |
Referees’ Protocol and Relegation Implications
Match Referee Enayet Hosein Chowdhury Tamim confirmed that the standard legal grace periods were observed at the ground before the points were officially forfeited. He detailed the sequence of events at the venue:
“They did not provide their player list, nor did they arrive for the toss. The captain of Agrani Bank and I were waiting. We waited for approximately half an hour. They were also given additional time, but they failed to appear.”
The Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis (CCDM) issued an official statement following the abandonment, noting that neither the team nor the executives had forwarded any prior correspondence regarding the salary dispute. The organizing authority clarified that while it enforces strict penalties for non-participation, it holds no institutional jurisdiction over financial arbitration, as player remuneration remains an exclusive bilateral matter between a club and its contracted personnel.
Brothers Union team manager Amen Khan remained unavailable for comment, failing to answer subsequent telephone inquiries. This financial and administrative crisis deeply compounds the club’s severe on-field struggles. Having secured only one solitary win out of their nine completed league matches, Brothers Union remain firmly trapped in the relegation zone, facing a near-certain drop from the top flight.