Akpata upbeat as thousand youngsters begin quest for cricket stardom

• Published date: 19 January 2023
• Publication title: Nigeria - The Nation

The President of the Nigeria Cricket Federation, Uyi AKpata , as said more than one thousand kids will begin the fight for a place to represent each of the six geo-political zones at the finals of the 4th PwC-NCF national Under 17 Cricket Championship from Friday, 20th January .

'Nigeria's Cricket is negotiating a critical cusp in its history and the National Under 17 Championship is a major factor in that. This weekend over one thousand kids would begin their journey to stardom as the 4th edition of the event kicks off in Ibadan, Oyo State,' he said.

Boys and girls representing Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Ekiti, and Oyo States will assemble at the Liberty Stadium and Government College Ibadan Cricket pitches to set the event off.

Akpata said that the event has now become the cornerstone for developmental Cricket in Nigeria in the few years of staging it produced some brilliant players some of whom have had national team call-ups.

'This event forms the natural selection process for the National Under 19 teams and we have seen some players graduate to the senior national teams from here. So, this event means a lot to the federation, and thanks to our sponsors, PwC Nigeria, uLesson, and Bento Africa, we now have reasons to deepen our search for more talents courtesy of their support,' he added.

The states in the South East will assemble their zonal elimination event at St. Patrick College, Emene, Enugu between January 24th and 29th where Ebonyi, Imo, Anambra, Abia and host Enugu States will vie for a place t represent...