Oyo State Set To Host South West Cricket Tournament
The Oyo State Cricket Association has declared its readiness to host the third edition of the U-19 South West Cricket tournament, tagged Jide Bademosi Cup.
The tournament, which starts from March 2nd and ends on March 6th, will feature Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti and Oyo states at the Obafemi Awolowo Cricket Pitch, Ibadan.
According to the Tournament Director, Okon Ukpong, the event is organised to awaken cricket in the South West region. Ukpong, a former Nigeria and West Africa cricket captain, said the U-19 tournament is another way to prepare South West for strong presence at regional elite level.
“The teams are expected to arrived on March 2, on the third, fourth, fifth, the tournament will be bubbling,” Ukpong said. “Professor Bademosi is our icon and we need to celebrate him and the six states in the South West that have confirmed their participation.”
“The South West U-19 event is basically a reawakening to the region, especially based on the development of the game in the other regions of the country, which we don’t want to lag behind.”
“Organising U-19 competition is to prepare South West for stronger regional presence at the elite level and we all know that Professor Bademosi made tremendous contribution to the development of cricket in South-West, especially in Oyo State.”
“Which is why the competition was named after him to appreciate his relentless effort on development of cricket over the years,” Ukpong added.
The former chairman of Oyo State Cricket Association and chairman, Technical Committee of the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF), commended the present NCF board, headed by Uyi Akpata, for its effort in doing the right thing, adding that what the South West is doing is complementary.
He said the only area the board needs to look at critically is the capacity content of coaching, which would make the country more visible internationally.
“There is still a loophole in the area of coaching and we need to look critically at that because that is the only thing that will make us more visible internationally,” Ukpong said.
“If so much is done administratively and in terms of infrastructure and the coaching content is not robust, it might fall short internationally.”
Chidi Nwoke/The Guardian.
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