Nigeria has been named as one of the three African countries for the trophy tour of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup on 29 and 30 August, ahead of this year’s championship in India.
The trophy is expected to arrive in Abuja on 29th August, and will be received by the board of the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF) before being handed to the newly appointed Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Enoh.
The next day of the tour, the trophy will be in Lagos and would be received by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and will also be on public display at the Tafawa Balewa Cricket Oval, the game’s most revered ground in the country.
NCF president, Mr. Uyi Akpata said the second coming of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup trophy to the country is a testament to the strides of Nigerian cricket in the last five years.
“Nigeria will be a major stop for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Trophy that is presently on a tour of 18 countries globally, and that is major for us. Being the second successive time in Nigeria is a huge win for our developmental effort.
“I believe the back-to-back trophy tour of Nigeria, first in 2019 and now in 2023, shows how Nigeria, as an emerging cricket development hotbed, is key for the continent. And this is an appreciation to those who have, and are still sacrificing to see the game attain an enviable height in the country”, Akpata said.
Nigeria has won four global developmental awards between 2019 and 2023, including qualifying for its first World Cup in 2019.
This year, Nigeria was named the winner of the 100 per cent Female Cricket Initiative of the Year Global Award. This was on the back of a successful girl-child campaign in Zamfara State which yielded over 20, 000 entrants in 2022.
Nigeria’s Women’s senior team, the Female Yellow Greens also won the NCF Women’s T20i Invitational Tournaments for the first time this year after hosting it for four years.
