Shoriful Islam’s County Dreams See BCB Roadblock Despite Australia Heroics

New Delhi, August 26: After a stellar bowling display in Australia, where he set a Bangladesh record of 7/48, Shoriful Islam's flirtatious affair on foreign soil seems to have hit a roadblock after he failed to secure a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) for a stint with Kent in the County Championship.

According to a report by Cricbuzz, Shoriful was set to join Hasan Mahmud in the Kent dressing room. Still, the board decided not to release him, as they felt it would have put him at risk regarding his international commitments.

"Shoriful was not given an NOC considering his workload and upcoming international assignments, because in the next three months we have five Tests, seven T20s, and six ODIs," said Shahriar Nafees (BCB cricket operations in-charge), quoted by Cricbuzz.

Nafees further said Shoriful has become an asset for Bangladesh and is capable of playing all formats. Moreover, the left-arm pacer is coming back from a hamstring injury. Naturally, the pressure of county matches on the left-arm pacer will be too much on his plate, and he might once again not be fully fit for all those international matches.

"Shoriful is the kind of player who plays all formats. Plus he's just coming back from a hamstring injury. So if we give him an NOC for 4 county matches, the amount of pressure that will put on his body- we're concerned he might not be fully fit for all those (international) matches," he added.

The team management and medical department have decided that training is more important for him at this stage than playing competitive cricket. The priority is to ensure he regains full fitness and is ready for Bangladesh's upcoming international assignments.

Meanwhile, another pacer, Khaled Ahmed, has received a No-Objection Certificate to join Kent for county cricket. Nafees explained that Khaled was cleared for the stint after being approached by the English club. Unlike the other player, Khaled is fully fit and has not played many matches recently, making the county opportunity a useful chance for him to gain valuable match practice ahead of future international commitments.