Cricket: Nigeria Hosts Four-nation West Africa Trophy

The Nigeria Cricket Federation will play host to the first edition of West African Trophy, which is scheduled to kick-off at the Tafawa Balewa Square Cricket Oval in Lagos, from Wednesday October 4th to 15th, 2023.

Ghana, Sierra Leone and Rwanda, are the other teams that would be represented in the 10-day event.

President of the Nigeria Cricket Federation, Uyi Akpata, said yesterday that the event is a fallout of new partnerships with new sponsors. He said it will create platforms for the exposure of the national team to more international engagement crucial for the development of the players.

“This event is the first in the series, and we are glad to put it together, along with some partners, especially Dafabet. 

“Again, it will form part of  events that will prepare the nation’s men’s Cricket team “The Yellow-Greens” ahead of other international engagements later in the year.” He said.

Two matches will be played daily from the opening day till the final day.

“Sierra Leone and Ghana are our rivals on the West African corridor, and Rwanda’s profile has been on the rise as well. So, it will be a great chance to test the might of the Nigerian team, which has also been beefed-up of late with the promotion of former U19 players.”

Nigeria’s team would be led by Kenyan Steve Tikolo as Chief Coach, and captained by Sylvester Okpe.

The opening match will see Nigeria taking on Rwanda by 9am on Tuesday October 4th, at the TBS Oval, while Ghana will battle Sierra Leone later in the day.

General Manager of the NCF, Emeka Igwilo, stressed that the event will also draw on the growing capacity of the Federation to host international facility, both in facility and personnel.

According to him, “Amidst all these are the upping the skills  of our staff and development of special relationship across industries for event management and all the accoutrements necessary for international event hosting. 

“This, follows naturally from the uptick we have been making in games development across the country as our yearly recruitment goals that have  crossed 250, 000 per year now.”

Nigeria has six turf wickets that can host international cricket matches from zero in just four years. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has also made a note of Nigeria as one of the countries to give special attention to, to help sustain the gains made in recent years.