The nation’s premium cricket grounds, Tafawa Balewa Cricket Oval in Lagos, is wearing new looks ahead of the forthcoming third edition of the NCF Women’s T20 Invitational Tournament scheduled for March 25th to April 3rd, 2023.
President of the Federation, Uyi Akpata, has said the event beyond strengthening the ties between Nigeria and other top cricketing nations across the continent the tournament will help the country to build and expose the women’s team.
He added that, “In the last two years, the Tafawa Balewa Square oval has continually been upgraded and maintained in a bid to keep it in a tournament-ready state that we now have it.”
The 10-strip turf wicket grounds would be hosting all the games of the Women’s T20 Invitational that will feature, Cameroun, Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda and Sierra Leone, which Akpata has said is going to be a different ground from what was played last year, because of the quality of attention give the facility.
The facility, would be hosting about 2,000 players, fans and visitors per day during the event including, students from cricket-playing schools, as a way to inspire them and bring them closer to the top talents representing the country.
“To manage the level of traffic we are envisaging during the tournament, we have had to also put all the complimentary facilities in proper shape. While we are hoping that our team will rise from the runner-up finish, last year, at the event to win, our success would need to find definition outside of the activities on the pitch.” He added.
The Nigerian Cricket Federation, he said, is deliberate about developing a sustainable event planning model, innovating, and keep re-inventing its value addition to corporate sponsors and partners; to be able to attract more partners in their journey to the game’s development.
Emeka Igwilo, the General Manager of the Nigeria Cricket Federation, said training and development for its key staff, to be able to handle the growing responsibilities that comes with the height and the vision they had mapped for the game of Cricket in the country.
“Nigeria is easily a major developmental hub for the game with an ambitious 250, 000 new entrants per year goals set by the present board. Events like the NCF Women’s T20 Invitational Tournament only go to complement all we have set as growth agenda, so we have to match up to it.” He added
Teams will start arriving for the 2023 NCF Women’s T20 Invitational Tournament on Friday, March 24th, while Saturday, 25th is set as the practice day for all teams ahead of the opening games on Sunday, 26th.
