BY ADEYEMI ROBINSON-ADEFIOYE LAGOS
NIGERIA CRICKET FEDERATION NCF is set to unfold a good number of female umpires and scorers in the forthcoming NATIONAL U17 CRICKET CHAMPIONSHIP sponsored by PRICEWATERHOUSE COOPERS, (PWC) NIGERIA.
In the arrangement that has been concluded by the NCF UMPIRES AND SCORERS COMMITTEE and the ASSOCIATION OF CRICKET UMPIRES AND SCORERS OF NIGERIA (ACUSN), fifty percent (50%) of the umpires that will officiate in the Girls category of the U17 CHAMPIONSHIP will be females while all the scorers (Online and book) will also be controlled by the ladies.
Among the females that will man the turf pitch at the ABUJA CRICKET OVAL, PACKAGE ‘B’ of the NATIONAL STADIUM for the girls tournament slated for next week include JESSICA JOSEPH (who made her international debut in the match between KADUNA STATE and UGANDA side, July 2019 in UGANDA), DEBORAH IMOBIGHE and AOLAT AREMIDE A.
The Amazons are to be supported by KEHINDE OLANBIWONNU, WALE ADEKOYA and CHIBUIKE NWANKWO.
On the scorers desks will be CYNTHIA OKAEGBU and ASHAFA MODUPE.
According to THE NCF DEVELOPMENT TARGET, the female administrators are being prepared to take charge of most of the female competitions and the run up is starting with the age group strides.
The NCF is happy to report too that a good number of the female umpires participated in the regional play-offs across the Nation.
SOUTH-WEST, SOUTH-SOUTH, SOUTH-EAST, NORTH-CENTRAL, NORTH-WEST ZONES will take part in the Girls finals while the boys finals will feature SOUTH WEST, SOUTH-SOUTH, SOUTH-EAST, NORTH-CENTRAL, NORTH-WEST and NORTH- EAST regions.
Players that are expected to participate in the two weeks event are the budding talents discovered from the States that took part in the Zonal finals. EDO, RIVERS, AKWA IBOM and BAYELSA States competed in the SOUTH-SOUTH playoffs while SOUTH-EAST had ANAMBRA, IMO and EBONYI States.
For SOUTH-WEST, the battle was among OYO, LAGOS,OGUN, OSUN and EKITI States while the NORTH-CENTRAL saw KWARA, FCT, PLATEAU, NIGER and KOGI States battle for supremacy.
NORTH-WEST witnessed actions from KADUNA, JIGAWA, KEBBI and ZAMFARA states whereas in NORTH-EAST, only BORNO State featured a team for the boys event.
The activities for the National Finals are scheduled as follows:
PRESS CONFERENCE: Sept. 26th, 2019- 12noon (PRESS CENTER- ABUJA, NATIONAL STADIUM)
GIRLS TOURNAMENT – September 27th, 28th& 29th, 2019
BOYS TOURNAMENT –October 3rd, 4th, 5th& 6th, 2019
For the boys event, GODWIN ONOJA, MILLER KIO, RICHSON TETTEH, KEHINDE OLANBIWONNU, ASHAFA MODUPE and OKECHUKWU ONWUDIWE will also stand as umpires while CYNTHIA OKAEGBU and OCHEPA SUNDAY will score.
Apart from the quality of play and female involvement, another big spectacular will be the outfits of all the teams, kitted by PWC, which will be the best of its kind for the youth events, in the recent time.
The Competition will provide the platform for selection of the next set of the U19 TEAMS.
