Bangladesh's Cricket Board said on Thursday it has barred former Australian captain Steve Smith from the forthcoming Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20 tournament following an objection raised by some franchises. Smith, serving a one-year ban from international cricket and Australia's domestic Sheffield Shield and Big Bash League, had signed for Comilla Victorians to play in the next edition of the BPL starting on January 5.
"The rule of the tournament is that if a franchise takes a replacement, his name should be in the list of initial players' draft. But Smith's name was not there, " said Bangladesh Cricket Board chief Nizamuddin Chowdhury. "Some franchises raised objection about it. So we have to bar him from playing the BPL," he said.
The BPL was expected to be Smith's third T20 league outing - after Canada's Global T20 and the Caribbean Premier League - since the ban was imposed. He also recently signed for the Pakistan Super League, which will be played in February and March.