Bangladesh cut six, deny stars pay rise

Bangladesh have axed six players from national contracts and those who escaped the chop have been denied a pay rise.

Opening batsmen Soumya Sarkar and Imrul Kayes were among the six to miss out on a contract as the Bangladesh Cricket Board warned players to shape up.

The board decided to retain just 10 players on a national contract, with three others to be added at a later date.

"For contracts, we mostly preferred players who would perform regularly over the next one year," selector Habibul Bashar told AFP.

"Some players have lost their regular spot in the team. They needed to be sent a message. Getting dropped does not mean the door is closed for them. Everyone will get a fair chance in future."

Mosaddek Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Taskin Ahmed and Kamrul Islam Rabbi were the four others whose contracts were not renewed. Sabbir was already excluded from a contract on disciplinary grounds.

Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mashrafe Mortaza, Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah Riyad, Mominul Haque, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Taijul Islam and Mehedi Hasan were the 10 players awarded contracts.

BCB president Nazmul Hassan also told reporters that contracted players would not be given a pay rise this year.

The top remunerated players - Shakib, Mushfiqur and Mortaza - are paid 420,000 taka ($6500 AUD) a month from the board.

The board also said it would review contracts for around 80 first-class players.

Bangladesh lost Test series against New Zealand, India and South Africa in 2017, and managed to scrape a draw against Sri Lanka and Australia. 

Their limited-overs side made the semi-finals of the ICC Champions Trophy in the UK but were drubbed in all but four of their 14 one-day international matches.

They also won just one of seven Twenty20 internationals in the same period.