Sports
‘Cricket Has Progressed In Nigeria’
The national cricket coach, Uthe Ogbimi, has said that the game has developed tremendously in the country and charged the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF) to sustain the tempo.
Ogbimi told newsmen in Lagos that there has been progress in the level of the country’s participation in international tournaments in recent times.
“In my days as an active cricketer in the 1990s, the country was only known to participate in the West Africa Triangular Tournament and that was where I first represented the nation.
“Then, from the year 2000 till 2008, Nigeria started participating in African tournaments where we were pitted against stronger teams like South Africa and Namibia.
“And since 2008, we moved to the world stage and it is our hope that we remain there. I believe that is good progress for the sport in the country,” he said.
It would be recalled that Nigeria became an Associate Member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2002, during the tenure of Dr John Abebe as the President of NCF.
The coach added that as an indication of the development of the sport, some of the national players now played in foreign clubs.
“We have never had a situation where our cricketers are playing in foreign clubs and the development has gone a long way in inspiring the younger players,” he said.
Ogbimi said that the development of a national female team was also an indicator of the growth of the game.
He added that what could be debatable was the speed at which the sport got to where it was currently.
The male national team will participate in the ICC/Africa T-20 Division I tournament in Uganda in February.
Iwobi spoke to Tidesports source ahead of Nigeria’s crunch playoff semi-final against Gabon on Thursday, November 13, in Rabat, Morocco.
The 28-year-old was reacting to Nigeria’s shaky World Cup qualifying campaign that saw the Eagles finish second in Group C behind South Africa’s Bafana Bafana.
“We’ve managed to rescue ourselves from the dead,” Iwobi told Tidesports source.
We know we have the players and the abilities to compete against any other country in the world.”
The Fulham star pointed to Nigeria’s star power, highlighting African Footballer of the Year winners Ademola Lookman and Victor Osimhen as proof of the squad’s quality.
“We have last year’s African best player (Ademola Lookman), the year before that (Victor Osimhen),” he said.
“It’ll be a shame if we don’t make it, but we have a lot of confidence. We just have to prove it to ourselves.”
Nigeria’s path to the United States, Canada and Mexico has been turbulent, with two coaches departing during the early stages of qualifying before Éric Chelle steadied the ship to steer the Super Eagles into November’s CAF playoffs.
Four nations from the continent – Nigeria, Cameroon, DR Congo and Gabon – will vie for a solitary spot to compete in next March’s inter-confederation playoffs, with a view to joining the already nine qualified African nations at the Finals.
It would mark Iwobi’s second appearance at the World Cup Finals and the Super Eagles’ first since the 2018 edition of the competition.
Back then, Iwobi featured in all three games as Nigeria was knocked out in the group stage.
The Chief Executive Officer(CEO) and Publisher of the Atlantic Bell Online medium, Mr. Celestine Ogolo has advised sports writers in Nigeria to diversify in sports writing and not to concentrate on football reporting alone.
The Deputy National President of Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) Mr. Bonny Nyong has expressed commitment to support sports development and move SWAN forward.