Home ›› 12 Jan 2022 ›› Nation
Artisans in several villages in Swarupkathi of Pirojpur have long been contributing to the development of cricket in Bangladesh by making artificial drop-in mats for cricket pitches from coconut coir.
Hundreds of artisans working under a good number of small organisations dedicated themselves to making these mats and delivering them to different cricket organisations such as the Bangladesh Cricket Board, the Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Pratishtan (BKSP), Police Training Centre, Bangladesh Army, Bangladesh Air Force, etc. for the past 50 years.
These organisations are under the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC). BSCIC authorities said that in adverse weather, like the monsoon season, the traditional cricket pitches get soaked with rainwater, and thus cricket practice in these pitches gets challenging.
Not only that, the mat pitch made from coconut coir delivers improved surface stability, reduce wear, reduce bowler foot holes, and significantly extended hours of playing time. That is why the cricketers and different cricket organisations prefer these mats to enhance their practitioners’ ability.
For the past five decades, the villagers in Swarupkathi have been involved in making different household and craft products such as doormats, bags from coconut coir. As the demand for these craft items reduced and prices and demand for these cricket mas increased, more and more artisans opted to make such mats. Seeing their success, hundreds of youths of the area got interested in making these mats and initiated their businesses after taking training from BSCIC.
Md Mohiuddin, alias Tota Miah, is one such entrepreneur from village Beltala in Sutuakhati, and owner of The People’s Coir Industries, the most prominent pitch-making firm in the locality, has been producing these mats for the past 45 years.
“We directly take orders from the Bangladesh Cricket Board and Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Pratishtan authorities, and deliver world-class indoor artificial pitches so that our cricketers can practice well.”
“We collect the raw material, coconut coir, from Bagerhat. After that, three to five craftsmen make ropes from the coir and attach them together to make the final product. One such mat can be used for seven to eight years,” he said.
Tota Miah further mentioned that to make a 66-foot mat, ropes worth Tk 10,000 to Tk 13,000 are needed. Four workers work day and night for at least six days to make a 66-foot pitch. The production cost of one such pitch is around Tk 28,000, and the selling price is Tk 35,000 to Tk 38,000. They sell 35 to 40 pitches a year, he said.
Masum Khan and Abdul Kader, two craftsmen, who have been working in the sector for the last 20 years, told The Business Post that the demand for these artificial pitches increases during domestic cricket tournaments.
“We buy the raw materials from the local markets and make these mats. The production process is simple, and we earn well,” said craftsman Masum.
Milton Chandra Bairagi, deputy manager of Pirojpur BSCIC, said, “We have trained 50 people under a government-funded project. We also provided Tk 1 crore as loans to 25 trainees with easy term under the project to encourage them to opt for this sector.”
Pirojpur Deputy Commissioner Abu Ali Mohammad Sazzad Hossain told The Business Post that they are happy with the expansion of the sector as it creates employment opportunities for rural people.
