By Desmond Iwuchukwu
As Fans of the second-most followed sport, cricket awaits in excitement for India to host the International Cricket Council (ICC) 2023 Cricket World Cup in October. The Nigeria Cricket Federation, (NCF) is making plans to form a committee to receive Cricket’s most treasured trophy on the 29th and 30th of August, 2023 when it arrives in Nigeria.
In 2019, Nigeria, under the immediate past NCF President, Prof. Yahaya Ukwenya received the Cricket World Cup silverware with excitement and support from a popular car manufacturing brand. The event will also open opportunities for brands to promote their businesses apart from recognition of Nigeria’s cricket development.
A source in NCF said the current President of the federation, Uyi Akpata may also host the trophy in Lagos and Abuja only. Cricket fans in Nigeria were hopeful this year’s tour could extend to southern cities like Benin and Port Harcourt where cricket activities have doubled over the years.
The ICC World Cup trophy is making rounds across the globe as a buildup to cricket’s biggest ‘festival’ in a country that is ‘most united’ by the sport.
ICC Chief Executive Geoff Allardice said: “The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Trophy Tour is an important milestone in the countdown to what will be the biggest ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup ever. This Tour will see the iconic silverware meet heads statutes, launch community initiatives and support cricket development programs in addition to visiting some of the most iconic landmarks around the globe.
“Cricket has more than a billion fans and we want to give as many people as possible the opportunity to get up close to this famous trophy that has been held aloft by some of the greatest legends of our sport.”
The trophy will travel 5 continents, 18 countries, and over 20 cities in India alone. The carnival-like Men’s Cricket World Cup will be hosted in 10 different cities in India.
Incidentally, the same 10 countries that qualified for the 2019 edition in England will square up against each other come 5 October to 19 November 2023 in 48 matches.
The ten qualified countries are India, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, West Indies, and Afghanistan.
