‘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.