The Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF) on Thursday in Abuja said it was planning to hold a national secondary schools championship to hunt for new talents.
NCF’s Acting Chairman, Media and Publicity Committee, Kayode Adeniyi, told newsmen at a briefing that the decision was borne out of the fact that the national team players were ageing.
Adeniyi said the federation was working towards catching the players young.
“We have already set up a committee to work towards the National Secondary Schools Cricket Championship which we want to use to hunt for talents.
“And we are targeting secondary schools, because we want to catch them young. So, we are looking at secondary schools across the 36 states and the FCT.
“We are not working alone as we are carrying the Federal Ministry of Education along and, before the end of the second quarter, we will come up with the final plan,’’ he said.
The NCF board member however noted that there was already upcoming a test trial of the championship, which would begin in Umuahia, Abia on Friday with teams from 10 states participating.
“The competition is tagged `Howzat National Junior Cricket Super League’ and 10 secondary schools from 10 states are participating in it.
“Schools from Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Edo, Delta, Anambra, Imo, Rivers, Abia and Ebonyi are participating in the three-day championship,’’ Adeniyi said.
He however disclosed that the federation was working on constructing cricket turfs in Abuja. (NAN)
