The National Cricket League had in fact been 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 which had begun in 1999–2000 as a minor competition became first-class in the 2000–01 season.
There are six teams in the league, each of which plays each other team twice over the course of the season, which runs from October to January.