The Nigerian cricket team will this evening(Monday 29th Sept 2008) depart
to take part in the deferred World Cricket League - Africa 2 tournament
scheduled to take place in Benoni, South Africa from 4th to 9th October,
2008.
The tournament which was originally scheduled for August in Zambia had to
be postponed because of the passage of the ersthwhile Zambian President.
The Nigerian team then undergoing a 10-day training camp in South Africa
had to return home immediately on postponement of the tournament despite
investing scarce resources on the trip.
This time around, the team is also departing 4 days ahead of the tournament
start to take the opportunity to engage in two practise matches before the start
of hostilities on the field in line with the philosophy of the NCF to prepare the
team adequately for tournaments.
The fixture list released by ICC-Africa shows the Nigerian team engaging Zambia
on the 4th, Swaziland on the 5th, Botswana on the 6th, 7th is rest day, on the 8th
Mozambique will be the opponent and finally on the 9th, West African neighbour,
will engage Nigeria.
The Nigerian team will be led by the Coach and 2nd NCF Vice-President, Ewa Henshaw
and will be joined by the Team Manager, former Nigerian player Dipo Idowu
next Friday befoer the tournament starts.
The team will be captained by Wale Adeoye with Endurance Ofem as his vice and
is comprised of the following: Kunle Adegbola, Joshua Ogunlola, Dolapo Gafar, Uthe
Ogbimi, Emmanuel Okwudili, Lekan Awolowo, Seye Olympio, Jide Bejide, Haruna Thomas,
Segun Olayinka, Tope Olayinka and Chimezie Onwuzulike.
The team is expected back on Friday 10th October, 2008.
