Work was done to improve water supplies, with a consequent boost to public health, and Europeans began to settle in Dhaka with cricket soon becoming one of their favourite recreational activities, as had happened elsewhere in India.
The two wings were separated by some 1,600 km (1,000 miles) of Indian territory and, despite their common religion of Islam, the ethnic and linguistic gulf between the two, compounded by an apathetic government based in the west, eventually resulted in the independence of Bangladesh.
East Pakistan was plunged into turmoil on 12 November 1970 when Cylone Bhola struck Bengal with enormous loss of life and devastating impact on the community and economy.
A few weeks later, when the country's first general election was held on 7 December, widespread outrage in the East resulted in victory for the Awami League which was a Bengali nationalist party under the leadership of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
The talks were unsuccessful in breaking a deadlock and, on 1 March 1971, Pakistani President Yahya Khan indefinitely postponed the pending National Assembly session, precipitating massive civil disobedience in East Pakistan.
Three weeks later, Bangladesh formally declared its independence and the country was plunged into its liberation war which raged through 1971 until intervention by India, in support of the Bangladeshis, on 3 December 1971.
The Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 was short-lived and resulted in Pakistan's capitulation on 16 December 1971, celebrated as Victory Day in Bangladesh, which was then established as a new nation.
[6] After independence, the new state endured poverty, famine, political turmoil and military coups until the restoration of democracy in 1991 which has been followed by relative calm and economic progress.
Cricket had to find its way forward amid the turmoil but it was helped by successive governments, civil and military, which treated its development with some importance.
Although the MCC team included some notable county cricket players such as Mick Norman, John Barclay, Dan Piachaud and Nigel Popplewell, their matches on the 1976–77 tour were not first-class.
Sri Lanka was then close to ICC Full Member status (achieved in 1982) and their higher standard was underlined by a series of innings victories in the three international matches against Bangladesh.
Bangladesh made their competitive international debut when taking part in the 1979 ICC Trophy, held in England between 22 May and 21 June, but failed to reach the semi-final stage.
At tea on the second day, with the BCB XI struggling to chase a target of 211, there was a crowd riot which prematurely terminated the game as a draw.
[14] Zimbabwe defeated Bermuda in the final and there was another setback for Bangladesh when they lost the third-place playoff match to Papua New Guinea by three wickets despite an innings of 115 by Yousuf Rahman.
This was the South East Asian Tournament (limited overs) in which the national team played against Hong Kong, Singapore and a BCB under-25 XI.
In March, Sri Lanka returned to play a single three-day match against Bangladesh, captained by Gazi Ashraf, in the National Stadium.
On 31 March, Bangladesh played their first-ever List A-classified Limited Overs International against Pakistan at the Tyronne Fernando Stadium in Moratuwa.
Writing in 1986, Robin Marlar expressed positive views about Bangladeshi cricket including his opinion that the country would, with more encouragement and experience, one day win the ICC Trophy.
Bangladesh hosted the 1988 Asia Cup, competing against India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the first List A classified matches to be played in the country.
[18] There were visits by the Hyderabad Blues and Denmark in January and February 1990 to play limited overs games against the BCB XI and club sides only and none of the matches were List A classified.
The 1990 ICC Trophy in June was held in the Netherlands and Bangladesh performed with credit, qualifying via two group phases for the semi-final where they were drawn against Zimbabwe and lost by 84 runs.
[19] The situation was calmer the following season (1993–94) when there were short visits by Zimbabwe (November) and Pakistan (January) to play two limited overs matches each against the national team.
Although the national team were having limited success against opponents with greater experience, domestic cricket in Bangladesh was making progress and expanding.
In December 1994, Bangladesh hosted a second SAARC Quadrangular against the A-teams of India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, all the matches being List A classified and all to be played in Dhaka at the National Stadium.
[27] Bangladesh first began to actively pursue full membership and test status recognition within the ICC from 1996 with the induction of the new Board President, Saber Hossain Chowdhury.
[33][36] In 1998–99, Bangladesh hosted the 1998 ICC KnockOut Trophy (known as the Wills International Cup) during October and November, although it being for Test nations only they could not play themselves but providing neutral venue.
[43] The Bangladesh team played in the Cricket World Cup for the first time, having qualified by winning the 1997 ICC Trophy, for the 1999 tournament in Great Britain.
The country's main domestic competition, the National Cricket League (NCL), began in 1999–2000 with teams from each of Bangladesh's (then six) administrative divisions: Barisal, Chittagong, Dhaka, Khulna, Rajshahi and Sylhet.
In 2000–01, its second season, the NCL became a first-class competition, sponsored by the Green Delta insurance company, and won by Biman Bangladesh Airlines.
It was founded in January 2012 and despite problems including match-fixing, it has been a commercial success, said by its promoters to be second only to the Indian Premier League (IPL) in terms of global revenue.