TheCable

The Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF) says the finals of the 5th PwC national U-17 cricket championship will now be held from February 14 to 19 at the twin ovals of Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja.

The finals were initially scheduled for February 7-11.

Speaking on Wednesday, Emeka Igwilo, NCF’s general manager and co-chair of the championship’s organising committee, said the new date was necessary to allow for regions that had pleaded for a shift in their qualifying dates to have time to practice and bond ahead of the finals.

“So far, out of six regions, four, including south-west, south-south, north-central and north-east, have concluded their regional qualifications. North-west and south-east will be having their regional finals this weekend and this means that the kids will have a few days to report to Abuja for the national finals,” Igwillo said.

According to Igwillo, major logistics for the event will also benefit from the date shift as well.

About 34 states registered boys’ teams for the age-grade event, while 25 states entered girls’ teams.

Ogun girls’ team and Oyo boys’ team ruled the south-west qualifiers. In north central, it was Niger boys and Kwara girls team that ruled the series while Edo boys and girls team dominated the south-south qualifiers just as Gombe ruled the north east.

The national finals will feature teams representing the regions.

Igwillo said each regional team would be represented by its best talents, which indicates the best from every team that participated.

“It is our way of ensuring that the best talents get exposure irrespective of their team’s performance at the regional finals. It also fosters integration along the regional line,” Igwillo said.

The PwC national U-17 championship has become the platform for nurturing and progressing talents to the national team.