The 5th PwC National Under 17 Cricket Championship is a highly anticipated event that will take place at the twin ovals of Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja.
The event was initially scheduled to be held from Feb. 7 to Feb. 11, but due to some unforeseen circumstances, the organizers had to shift the dates to Feb. 14 to Feb. 19.
Emeka Igwilo, General Manager of the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF), who is also the co-chairman of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) of the event, stated that the shift in date was to allow the teams enough time to prepare adequately for the tournament.
According to Mr. Igwilo, out of the six geo-political zones, only four have concluded their regional qualifications.
The South-West, South-South, North-Central, and North East regions have all completed their qualifications, while the North-West and South-East regions will be having their qualification this weekend.
This means that the kids will have a few days to prepare before they report to Abuja for the national finals.
The NCF Board has requested an additional week to assemble their regional teams and a few days of practice before the national finals, hence the shift in dates.
The national final will feature the best players from each state in each of the zones, representing their zones in Abuja.
It is expected that each regional team will be represented by their best talents, including the best from every team that participated.
This approach is aimed at ensuring that the best talents get the exposure they deserve irrespective of their team’s performance at the regional finals while fostering integration along the regional line.
34 states registered for the male event while 25 states entered for female.
From the concluded regional events, Ogun female team and Oyo state male team emerged winners in the South-West qualifiers.
In North Central, it was Niger boys and Kwara girls teams that ruled the series, while Edo male and female teams dominated the South-South qualifiers as Gombe State did the same in the North East.
In summary, the 5th PwC National Under 17 Cricket Championship is a highly anticipated event featuring the best young cricket talents in Nigeria.
The organizers have put in place measures to ensure that the best talents get the exposure they deserve, and the tournament promises to be an exciting one.
