TheCable

Yahaya Ukwenya, president of Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF), has assured of his administration’s commitment to nurturing more female cricketers in the country.

In a statement on Tuesday, Ukwenya commended the entry of about 300 female cricketers from 21 states last weekend for the on-going PwC national under-17 cricket championship.

According to him, the players would serve the country’s interest in the near future, adding that efforts are already in place at state level to groom female cricketers to competitive stage.

The NCF boss said under his watch, concerted efforts have also been put in place to ensure equal development in cricket between males and females in the country.

“The effort being invested at the state level to raise the female players to the competitive stage will be taken to a higher level at the national level soon,” he said.

“In our five strategic imperatives that we set from the beginning of the administration, making a conscious effort to allow equal development along gender lines was key for us.”

According to Ukwenya, some upsets created at the cadet competition underscores the hard work and passion brought by the young players to the regional event.

“Ekiti state easily shoved aside the regional champion in the South West, Oyo state, and humbled Lagos state in the last match to prove that development is not exclusive to major cities anymore,” he said.

“Kogi state girls also dominated the North Central region where FCT, Kwara, and Niger states were also competing.”

Ukwenya added that some exceptional talents spotted at the regional championship would be drafted to the under-19 and senior national teams to enhance Nigeria’s position on the continent.

On his part, Taiwo Oriss, secretary-general of the cricket federation, said the newly spotted talents would provide credible options for the technical team with a view to bolster the main team.

“Despite following the strict Covid rules, the regional finals for the girls last weekend has been the best we have had in recent times and we hope to step up the conditions when the boys’ regional event gets underway this week,” Oriss said.

TheCable also learned that Ashanka Gurusinha, the new national coach, has followed reports of the qualifiers from his base in Abuja and was pleased with the statistics.

The PwC national under-17 championship is the biggest platform by the cricket federation organised to enable young players across the country to express their talent.

The male regional finals are scheduled for January 21 to 24 in six Nigerian centres.