The National Cricket League is the oldest domestic first-class cricket competition in Bangladesh. It is contested by teams representing seven of the eight regional divisions of Bangladesh (there is no team from Mymensingh Division) as well as a team from the Dhaka metropolitan area.
The National Cricket League was inaugurated in the 1999–2000 season but was not then first-class. Bangladesh became the tenth Full Member of the ICC in 2000 and the league became first-class in the 2000–01 season. Limited-overs and Twenty20 tournaments with the same name have also been played in the past.
Since 2011–12 there have been eight teams in the league, which usually runs from October to December. From 2011–12 to 2014–15 each team played each other team once over the course of the season. Beginning in 2015–16 there has been a two-tier league: Rangpur, Khulna, Dhaka Division and Dhaka Metropolis were in the first tier in 2015–16, and Rajshahi, Sylhet, Barisal and Chittagong in the second.[1] After each season the bottom team of tier 1 and the top team of tier 2 swap places for the next season's competition.[2]
The league is also known under its main sponsor's name. In 2015–16 it was officially the "Walton LED TV 17th National Cricket League". In October 2019 the Walton Group became the title sponsor of NCL for the next three years, and the league would be known officially as the "Walton NCL".[3][4]
Winners of the National Cricket League in each season are:[5]
The National Cricket League one-day competition is no longer held. It has been superseded by the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League as Bangladesh's List A competition.[citation needed]
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