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The Tafawa Balewa Cricket Oval in Lagos, is wearing a new look ahead of the forthcoming NCF Women’s T20 Invitational Tournament scheduled for March 25 to April 3.
President of the Nigeria Cricket Federation, Uyi Akpata, said the event, beyond strengthening the ties between Nigeria and other top cricketing nations across the continent, would help the country build and expose the women’s team.
“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,” Akpata said.
The 10-strip turf wicket grounds would be hosting all the games of the Women’s T20 Invitational that will feature Cameroon, Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda and Sierra Leone, which Akpata has said it’s going to be a different ground from what was played last year, because of the quality of attention given the facility.
The facility will host 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 runners-up finish last year at the event to win, our success would need to find definition outside of the activities on the pitch,” Akpata added.
The NCF said it was 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, NCF, 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 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 stated
Teams will start arriving for the 2023 NCF Women’s T20 Invitational Tournament Friday, March 24, while Saturday, march 25 is set as the practice day for all teams ahead of the opening games on Sunday, March 26.
