Bangladesh bowlers get 10-year bans for umpiring protests

REUTERS - Two Bangladesh club cricketers who deliberately conceded runs to protest against poor umpiring in the Dhaka Second Division Cricket League have been banned from cricket for 10 years, local media reported on Tuesday.

Lalmatia Club's Sujon Mahmud conceded 92 runs in four legal deliveries in his side's match against Axiom Cricketers last month, peppering the field with 15 no balls and 13 wides that also raced to the boundary.

Fear Fighters Sporting Club's Tasnim Hasan had conceded 69 runs in seven legitimate deliveries in a similar protest against the umpiring in an earlier match.

"This incident has dented the reputation of Bangladesh cricket and we have taken a stern step because this was important for us," Bangladesh Cricket Board director Jalal Yunus was quoted as saying by local newspaper the Daily Star.

The two clubs have been barred indefinitely from competition. The captains, managers and coaches of both teams have been banned for five years.

"They willingly tarnished the image of Bangladesh cricket," Sheikh Sohel the BCB's disciplinary committee chief said.

"A bowler won't be able to do such a thing without the order of their team management. From the whole investigation we realised that it was done to hurt Bangladesh cricket."

(Reporting by Simon Jennings in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)