The plan by Nigeria Cricket Federation to take kids off the streets and get them engaged in cricket may have been targeted at being realised in five years from now. But, the plan has already appeared to yield promising fruits, even beyond the expectations of the NCF officials. More for the plan being well articulated but much more for it being well received by the targeted kids, all of which are in schools, the entire country is now virtually a pool of young cricket players.
Uyi Akpata, President of the NCF and a product of the Government College, Warri, where he also played cricket, had been intentional about youth development for the sport since he became vice president of the federation in 2018. By the time he became the president last year, not a few expected anything less from him; and he has not disappointed.
About 800 students from across the six regions of Nigeria participated in latest PwC-sponsored National U-17 Cricket Championship held last week in Abuja, with the north east making its maiden appearance in the annual tournament which is in its third year. It says a lot that cricket could be a competitive sport in the north east of the country, despite the security challenges being experienced in the region. But it says even a lot more about the NCF leadership that is determined to spread cricket development across Nigeria. For cricket enthusiasts, however, the strides are less of a surprise, considering that promotion of the game at all levels, upgrading infrastructures, building strategic partnerships, training and retraining of staff and players and ensuring corporate governance are the cardinal objectives of the Akpata administration.
The Abuja championship lived up to its billing, specifically with regard to the display of talent by the kids; which sustained the promise for the future. A remarkable discovery was that a good number of the kids have developed themselves into all-rounders (bowling, batting and wicket keeping) at this early stage; a trait clearly suggesting brighter future for the sport in a country where erstwhile and current stars have struggled to combine the three aspects efficiently. The conscious plan by the NCF to build turf wickets across the country can only accelerate the development of the school kids with a view to enabling them to adapt to what entails in advanced cricket-playing countries. There are already six turf wickets in Nigeria, two of which were played on at the Abuja championship, thanks to the conscious and deliberate efforts of the current NCF administration.
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Defending champion of the U-17 championship, south-south, left no one in doubt on its aim to retain its prize. Replete with exceptional players, the south-south dismissed all opposition to the 2022 title. The south-south’s female team also trampled on all opposition to win the trophy in that category; putting facts beyond doubt that the south-south holds the aces in underage cricket in Nigeria.
Not surprising, the north-east ended as the whipping team of the championship, although the team’s head, Mercy Ene, shrugged it off as “a learning process”. Majority of her players had ventured out of the north-east for the first time and had battled with culture shock in Abuja, even before the competition commenced. Nonetheless, she had taken useful notes with which to prepare for more competitions in the future. As far as Ene was concerned, “cricket has come to stay in the north-east; that is enough for us at the moment and I think we can only build on this Abuja experience going forward.”
For talent hunter and national senior cricket team coach, Ashanka Gurusinha, Abuja proved to be a good ground. According to the former Sri Lankan national team player, a few players were spotted. “They need more honing, but certainly they have got the talent. The exceptional ones may be given a trial in the senior team since I have a couple of Under-17s in there at the moment. Otherwise the rest of those I have spotted here can progress to the Under-19 team,” he said.
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Oyewale Obalola, Vice President of the NCF, summed up the federation’s developmental drive: “Never in Nigeria’s cricket history have so many kid players emerged from different parts of the country.”
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