Asanka Gurusinha, the Head Coach and High-Performance Manager of Cricket in Nigeria, has described the ongoing regional finals of the PwC National U-17 Cricket Championships as very important for development pathway of the sport.
Asanka in a statement issued by the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF) on Sunday said he was impressed by the coordination of the event so far.
“Events are important for Nigeria’s grassroots development, and I have followed this very event and must say I am impressed at the level of coordination by the NCF and the support given by the Sports Ministry.
“This event is critical to Nigeria’s participating in future U-19 events, though the attention this year is to get capable players for executing the coming U-19 World Cup qualifier later in the year.
“Most of the talents we have seen will form a pool from which National U- 19 coach will be working with” he said.
The Sri Lankan Cricket World Cup winner; who was employed in 2020, as the NCF’s Head Coach said he was looking forward to the finals of the event, in spite of being the first he would witness.
“I am very much looking forward to seeing the finals in Edo State,” the Head Coach said.
The girls’ final is billed for Jan. 27 to Jan. 31, while boys’ regional representatives will battle from Feb. 4 to Feb. 7 Feb. 4 to Feb. 7 at t Edo state high-performance centre in Benin City.
Also, the General Manager of the NCF, Emeka Igwilo said that all the regional teams coming for the finals would have all the needs to make sure they are safe and comfortable to play the best possible Cricket.
“We are leveraging on all the provisions, instructions, and support that the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development is offering Sports federations at these critical times to make sure we keep all the wards safe.
“These include; implementation of COVID-19 protocols at all hostels, and match venues for the days that each of the finals would be holding.
“The Sports Ministry has been with us in these implementations all through the regional events, and we are glad at the level of success so far,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the regional qualifiers for the boy’s and girls were played in five centres across the country.
