Female cricket has given Nigeria global attention – Akpata
President of the Nigeria Cricket Federation, Uyi Akpata, said the country is already reaping the rewards of the attention it has given to female cricket in the last five years, The PUNCH reports.
Akpata made this assertion at the Tafawa Balewa Cricket Oval in Lagos, where the country is hosting a five-nation women’s T20i tournament.
It’s the third edition of the tourney and it features Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Sierra Leone and reigning champions Rwanda.
The NCF has organized the tournament annually in commemoration of International Women’s Day and the president noted that Nigeria has benefited a lot from the competition in its quest to attract more people to cricket in the country.
“Female cricket is one place we have gained the most in the last five years. We have moved in ranking from number 38 to 28 and the platform for making that leap was holding this tournament last year. So the opportunity to play regularly with the best and also showcase the talents and what Nigeria has is very instrumental for us,” Akpata began.
“Beyond that, we are targeting 250,000 people to join cricket and half of them are women. So, when you talk about Africa and the whole world now, I’m not sure if there is any country that is producing new female cricketers other than Nigeria. And that is why we have received global attention to push this agenda.”
The 2023 edition of the women’s T20i began on Monday and Nigeria began their campaign with a six wickets win over Sierra Leone.
Following Thursday’s rest day, actions continue on Friday (today) as Nigeria will take on Ghana while Rwanda will face Cameroon.
After securing two wins each already, the Female Yellow Greens are in the run for a place in Sunday’s final with Rwanda as both teams are separated by net run rate on the table.
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