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NIGERIA CRICKET FEDERATION BRIEFS THE PRESS ON ACTIVITY REPORT OF THE FEDERATION IN THE LAST QUARTER OF 2010 | (2011-02-08 )

The Nigeria Cricket Federation , on Saturday, 29th of January 2011, at the Tafawa Balewa Square Cricket Oval, Lagos, held its quarterly press briefing for the  period covering, October – December 2010 (Q4). The President of the NCF, Kwesi Sagoe addressed the members of the press, supported by the General Manager of the federation, George Wiltshire.

Kwesi Sagoe said that the Federation had an impressive performance in the last quarter of 2010 as some milestones and programmes were successfully achieved. He said that the federation appointed Mr. George Wiltshire as General Manager/COO and the appointment is yielding results.  He added that the General Manager attended an ICC- Africa CEO Conference on Leadership/Corporate Governance in South Africa.

In ushering in the 2010/2011 Cricket Season, a Cricket  Season's Opening match was held in Lagos  in October between National Champions, Ibeju Lekki CC and a Club Cricket Committee (CCC) selected side.

Addressing the press further, He said that, in preparation for the U-15 ICC-ACA North-West Africa Tournament held  in Nigeria from December 11-14, 2010, the Nigeria Cricket Federation selected 16 players for close camp in Ibadan, Oyo State followed by a National trial/screening of the U-15 players in Lagos between 28th-31st of October, 2010.
 
Kwesi Sagoe said that the Federation, in October, organized an ICC-ACA Level 2 Coaching Course in Lagos for its cricket coaches selected from different parts of the country. He added that  in November, the Federation organized an ACA-ICC 2010 All Rounder  Academy in Lagos. The four-day programme was attended by cricketers from  Cameroon, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Morocco and host country Nigeria. As part of efforts to expand the grass root base for the game, Sagoe said that the Federation, in line with the development programme of the International Cricket Council and African Cricket Association, organized Cricket Introductory Courses in four states spread across the country. The States are: Cross River, Rivers, Kebbi and Enugu states. The course, which was coordinated by Nigeria's international, Endurance Ofem, was indeed another success in trying to expand the grass root development drive within the country.

Sagoe briefed further that Nigeria organized an ICC-ACA North West Africa  U15 Boys Cricket Tournament in Ibadan, Oyo State from December 11-14, 2010. Sierra Leone emerged the winner of the tournament. Ghana came 2nd, followed by Nigeria in the 3rd position. The 4th position was occupied by Cameroon; in the 5th position was Gambia, while Morocco occupied  the 6th position. Concluding his briefing, he disclosed that Nigeria will be participating at two major tournaments in 2011- the Africa Premier League (APL T20) DIV. 2,taking place in South Africa in April and the World Cricket League DIV. 7 in Botswana in May, 2011.
He also said that arrangement is on for the laying of turf wicket at the cricket oval in Abeokuta,Ogun State.