Cricket: Nigeria, Sierra Leone Bilateral Series Begins In Lagos

The series is part of the preparation for the upcoming world cup qualifiers in Rwanda

The T-20I bilateral series between the Nigeria National Men’s Cricket Team, Yellow-Greens and the Sierra Leonean national team will start on Tuesday at the University of Lagos Cricket Oval.

According to the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF) the T-20I Bilateral is part of the Federation’s elite cricket development plan.

Femi Solebo, the Local Organising Committee Chairman of the Series told reporters in Lagos the Federation plans to keep the national team in good shape and primed for international encounters.

Mr Solebo, who is also a board member of the NCF, added this is also a new strategic way of operation by the newly elected board.

“The games against Sierra Leone have historical and developmental relevance to all that we do. We intend to keep the national teams busy while expanding our development agendas,” the LOC Chairman said ahead of the first of the six series of matches scheduled in the tie.

He added: “This particular encounter will help us prime our players for the forthcoming T-20 World Cup Qualifiers. But among other things will also help us size up the options we have for the national team, keeping in mind the huge investments at grassroots and age-grade cricket development’’,

The new board of the Nigeria Cricket Federation led by Uyi Akpata which was voted in recently had set a target of 250,000 new recruitments into the game yearly through an expansive development campaign.

This campaign is driven by the school system and will provide the bedrock for development in both boys and girls category.

Nigeria’s Head Coach and High-Performance Manager, Asanka Gurursinha, said the national team is ready for the Series and there have been changes made since the last Tri-Series tournament in Uganda last month.