No BPL for Smith

Australia's former captain Steve Smith will not be able to play the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) this season after the Bangladesh Cricket Board decided that letting him play would go against the by-laws of the BPL council.

The objection from the franchises was based on the BPL's by-laws, which state that a replacement can only be taken from the players' draft list.

BCB media committee chairman confirmed the news to a Bengali daily today. "The matter of taking players from outside the draft was not in the BPL by-laws. We allowed it owing to the greater interest of the franchises. Since the franchises objected, we had to take the decision [to not allow him to play]," he said.

Comilla Victorians authorities had earlier informed that the franchise signed a contract with Smith in November for the sixth edition of the BPL. The Australian cricketer, currently serving a year-long ban for his role in the ball-tampering scandal in a Test between Australia and South Africa last March, was expected to join Comilla from the fifth game of the tournament.

Rangpur Riders issued a written objection to the decision to include Smith, following which the BPL GC took a step back from the decision.