Ugochukwu Iwuchukwu
The Board of the Nigeria Cricket Federation has approved the production of 1000 pieces of Plastic bats for Kids and softball competitions across the country.
According to the General Manager of Nigeria Cricket Federation, Emeka Igwilo, the approval of the 1000 pieces by the Board is the first phase of the production chain in a bid to double the 2019 mass participation scorecard and the number of children exposed to the game.
The target is to hit 100,000 children by end of the year through the mass participation events and part of the ways we can do it is to get the equipment that is durable, appealing to the kids and children friendly.
A set of the equipment is to have Plastic bats, stumps and balls which makes it easy for any school to start a team.
“With the population of Nigeria, getting the International Cricket Federation ICC 1,000,000 population target by the year 2023 is easy. The only constraint is financing to sustain the wildfire. With Nigeria’s population and the number of schools in the country, it is more than achievable.
Also Read: My husband wants to burn me alive, wife tells court
“Apart from the Federation’s investment in the equipment, sustainable partnership with companies is being planned to ensure the dream comes through. After the Commercial Strategy Workshop in Nigeria and the 360 visit by the International Cricket Council (ICC) Africa regional office, the Federation is energized to go through the recommendations and achieve the necessary targets for the good of the game.
“The exploits of the U19 Cricket Team in the ICC Divisions 1 and 2 qualifiers and the ICC Cricket World cup has continued to put pressure on the Federation, State Associations, Ministries of sports and schools on how to sustain the game in the country. Communities and schools are now getting more involved and planning cricket events on their own without waiting for the Federation or the Associations. These are the good signs that the Cricket culture is back” he said.
