The Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF) says about 360 participants will feature in the boys’ qualifiers at 2021 edition of the PwC national U-17 Cricket Championship scheduled to start this weekend.
The federation’s chairman of development and tournament committee and coordinator for the qualifiers, Endurance Ofem, disclosed this on Thursday.
Ofem said this year’s entry will be historic. He said he expects a keen competition among the young cricket players.
“We want the best team from each of the regions to make it to the national finals next month and for this reason we expect the players to fully express themselves to the technical team,” he said.
“We would have an ODI, 30 overs in each of the centers. We have also put officers on the ground to ensure Covid-19 compliance, while the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports has sent in support in this regard, which is complemented with health officials in all the centers.”
The national U-17 championship is the biggest platform for young cricketers. The national finals are scheduled to hold from January 28 to 31 (for girls) and February 4 to 7 (for boys).
Kaduna, Kano Zamfara, Jigawa, Sokoto would present teams for the northwest qualifiers in Kaduna.
Rivers, on the other hand, would host Edo, Akwa Ibom, Delta, Cross River and Bayelsa while representatives of north-central states from Kwara, Kogi and Plateau would slug it out in Abuja.
Enugu is expected to host Anambra, Ebonyi, Imo and Abia for the southeast region while Oyo will welcome Lagos, Ogun, Osun, and Ondo states in the southwest region.
