The Nigerian Cricket Federation (NCF) has upgraded facilities at the country’s number one ground, Tafawa Balewa Cricket Oval, Lagos, ahead of the third NCF Women’s T20 Invitational Tournament scheduled to hold from March 25 to April 3.
Speaking on the tournament, NCF President, Uyi Akpata, said the event, beyond strengthening the ties between Nigeria and other top cricketing nations across the continent, will also help the country to 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,” he said.
The 10-strip turf wicket will host all the games of the Women’s T20 Invitational which will feature Cameroun, Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Sierra Leone.
Akpata said the oval would be a different ground from what was played last year, because of the quality of attention given to the facility scheduled to host about 2,000 players, fans, and visitors per day during the event.
“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 to win, our success would need to find definition outside the activities on the pitch,” he added.
The NCF, 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.
Also speaking on the oval’s new look, NCF’s General Manager, Emeka Igwilo, said training and development for its key staff to handle the growing responsibilities that come with the vision they had mapped for the game 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 compliment 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 March 24, while all the teams will be allowed to practice on the pitch on March 25 ahead of the opening games on March 26.
