ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Trophy Tour arrives in Lagos amidst fanfare

Posted : 31 August 2023

The much-awaited ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Trophy Tour on Wednesday arrived in Lagos amidst fanfare as over 400 students from public and private schools in Lagos State and other stakeholders were on hand to welcome the trophy to Lagos.

Africa Sport Network (ASN) reports that the Cricket Oval of the Tafawa Balewa Square Lagos Island was filled to the brim as cricket fans besieged the venue of the trophy presentation.

The event also had in attendance ICC bigwigs from Africa and Nigeria which include ICC Development Manager, William Glenwright, Rohet Roda Senior Manager, ICC Member Services.

Others were Patricia Kambarau, ICC Africa Development Manager, Eddy Wamba, Trophy Tour Manager, Uyi Akpata, President, Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF), Amit Sharma, Managing Director, Nissan Nigeria.

Speaking on the ICC Trophy Tour to Nigeria, ICC General Manager for Development, Glenwright in an exclusive interview with ASN disclosed that the trophy tour was part of the developmental programmes of the world body to member associations.

``This is part of the programmes to encourage cricket in our member associations. I am happy to be back here in Nigeria again for the second time.

``We want to help Nigeria develop more in the game of cricket, we have seen many of Nigeria's developmental programmes which we will like other member associations to copy from.

``We have also seen great ambitious players from Nigeria that are doing well especially the desire to play in the ICC World Cup for male and female.

``Playing in the World Cup involves a lot of ambition and in Nigeria, we have already seen the urge, maybe in the next world cup it will happen,'' he said.

The President of NCF, Mr Akpata in his reaction said the feelings of having the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup in Nigeria was overwhelming.

``I am super excited that we are having the trophy tour in Nigeria. At this strategic level, ICC is looking for a way to promote the game of cricket globally.

``It is a significant global objective that also captures Nigeria and Nigeria has been identified as one of those countries where the initiative is yielding results.

``We are identified by the ICC alongside other three African countries for the tour, to see what we have done in the past and also see our developmental plan.

``Also in the course of the week, we will be having discussions with some other countries like South Africa, how they can support us in terms of player placements,'' he said.

Akpata further disclosed that the development project of the federation might not be a quick fix, but more of a progressive developmental plan.

``We will start from U-13, U-15, U-19 and maybe in the next year, we will see ourselves playing in the T20 competition. It is just for us to work out ways to the pathway on time.

``Our next target is to have a project of 500,000 students for grassroots development, we want to upgrade from our previous target of 4,000 students which we have achieved.

``We already have a project of 20,000 students in Zamfara and we will be going to Uyo to launch 300 girls project, maybe this can be an easy fix.

``We've got a standard Oval pitch in Lagos and we plan to develop new ones across Nigeria,'' he said.

Nigeria's Men's Cricket team captain, Stanley Okpe said that the trophy tour was a great motivation for Team Nigeria.

``The importance of this trophy tour is great and having the students come out in their numbers to see the trophy.

``I am sure that more parents will be more willing to bring their kids around to learn about the game and also motivate the players.

``Team Nigeria is willing to participate in the World Cup which involves many stages of development.

``Participating in more Cricket Championships will help us gain more recognition and climbing the ladder towards qualifying for the World Cup,'' he said.

Other activities at the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Trophy Tour includes exhibition match by the students, cultural troupe presentation, among others.

ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Trophy Tour arrives in Lagos amidst fanfare

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