"This is not a good sign." We want to believe incumbent Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan said these words out of the frustration that stemmed from the fact that 'no one is willing to step up to challenge him for the presidency'.

Sadly, we can also say it is not a good sign that the country's most high-profile and affluent sports federation's election is going to take place today without any buzz at the boardroom of the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.

There was some excitement over the last two elections in 2013 and 2017, when Hassan and former BCB president Saber Hossain Chowdhury became embroiled in a verbal battle, but this time it is apparently going to enter the history books as the most peaceful elections in cricket despite some discussion over a few categories.

Is it also a good sign that the BCB's Annual General Meeting (AGM), which was held after three years, had also failed to attract attention as stakeholders hardly raised any issues and refrained from debating financial or cricket development issues?

The AGM is supposed to be the best platform for the stakeholders to raise their voice but their timid demeanour indicated that the country's cricketing issues have all been resolved.

Why is the topic of forming regional cricket associations to develop the overall structure of the sport only raised when board elections are near? Would this question not be an appropriate one for the stakeholders to raise?

It was even more pathetic that the AGM news centered on the expensive gifts the stakeholders received.

Bangladesh cricket has achieved a lot during Hassan's tenure. He became the first elected president of the BCB in 2013, but nobody can deny that there are still problems aplenty surrounding the country's cricket, especially in relation to the proper structure of first-class cricket and the national team's desired improvement.

Then why has nobody shown any interest in challenging Hassan as he wanted? Why does it look so obvious that Hassan is going to serve the cricket for a third term when a total of 171 counsellors exercise their voting rights today?

Is it that there are no problems with Bangladesh cricket or that the problem lies elsewhere? The latter seems more probable.

We can remember here how questions were raised regarding lower-tier domestic competitions in recent times. There were allegations ranging from biased umpiring, favouritism and muscle-flexing from powerful quarters during matches and even buying and selling of points.

Different media outlets ran a number of stories and many incidents became viral on social media and the cynics said that all those things happened only to ensure councillorship from the club quota as there are 12 director spots in category 2, to be elected by club representatives.

In the district and division category, there are 10 director posts and there is a serious question about the process of nominating the councillorship from different districts and divisions.

Overall, there seem to be reasons behind an unwillingness to tinker with the current processes of the BCB elections because of many 'puppet' councillors. We must search for an answer whether there is a level playing field or not. Because if not, the BCB elections will only be less meaningful and mundane in the coming days.

Nevertheless, echoing Hassan's sentiments, we also feel that it is not a good sign for the elections of the richest board of the country to go uncontested for the greater interest of the game.