Cricket Federation relegates Nigeria’s cricket team

Nigeria U19 Men’s Cricket team ended their campaign at the World Cup Qualifiers in Lagos with a disappointing fifth-place finish out of six teams, resulting in their relegation to Division Two.

The Junior Yellow Greens, who had hoped for a better outcome, faced tough competition throughout the event, which concluded on Sunday.

Musa Ehizoje, the Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Cricket Federation,NCF, spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria on Thursday, highlighting that while the results were disappointing, there were some positives to take away from the experience.

He emphasized that, despite the overall performance, the team was not defeated by large margins in most matches, except for their loss to Tanzania.

“The performance was less than we expected,” Ehizoje stated. “However, most of the results against our team were won by a fine margin. We were not whitewashed in the games played except the match against Tanzania. The boys trained hard, they are talented, so I would say maybe luck was not on our side.”

Despite the setback, the NCF is focusing on the lessons learned from the tournament, and Ehizoje noted that the federation is committed to improving the team’s performance for future qualifiers.

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“It is disappointing that we are going back to Division Two, but we will take the positives and prepare well ahead of the next qualifiers,” he added.

The NCF spokesman outlined several strategies that will be employed to ensure better preparation for upcoming tournaments. He stressed the importance of improving the time available for team preparation.

“Instead of having camps for a few months before a tournament, we can have camps for over a year. Prior to that time, we will select a full squad and train them,” Ehizoje explained.

He further highlighted the need for consistent competition to improve the players’ performance. “We will register them as a team to play in the various senior leagues in the country. They play against each other and know themselves better. This will, over time, improve team bonding, cohesion, and more.”

Another crucial point raised by Ehizoje was the need for the team to play more 50-over matches, as opposed to the T20 format commonly played in Nigeria. “The 50-over format is quite different from the T20 that we are used to playing in Nigeria. We need to have the boys experience enough 50-over games, which is the format for the tournament,” he said.

The 10-day World Cup Qualifier event in Lagos saw Kenya, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Namibia, Tanzania, and host Nigeria competing. Tanzania emerged as the tournament’s only unbeaten team, securing the lone available slot for the U19 Men’s World Cup in 2026.

NAN