The National Finals of the 5th edition of the PwC National Under 17 Cricket Championship will be held between February 14 and 19 at the twin ovals of Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja.
Emeka Igwilo, General Manager of the Federation who doubles as the co-chair of the 2024 Organising committee of the national event, said the one-week move was necessary, among other things allow for regions that had pleaded for a shift in their qualifying dates to have time to practice and bond ahead of the finals.
“So far, out of six regions, four, including: South-West, South-South, North-Central, and North East, have all concluded their regional qualifications. North-West and South-East will be having their regional finals this weekend, and this means that the kids will have a few days to report to Abuja for the national finals,” he said. “The Board (of the Nigeria Cricket Federation), has asked for an additional week for them to be able to assemble their regional teams and a few days of practise before the National finals, hence the shift. Some major logistics for the event will also benefit from the shift as well.”
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In all, 34 states registered boys teams for the age-grade event, while 25 states entered girls teams.
From the concluded regional events so far, Ogun State’s girls’ team and Oyo State’s boys’ team ruled the South-West qualifiers. In North Central, it was Niger State’s boys and Kwara State’s girls team that ruled the series. Edo State boys and girls team dominated the South-South qualifiers just as Gombe State ruled the North East.
The National final will feature teams representing the regions at the national finals.
Igwilo further said: “Each regional team is expected to be represented by their best talents; this includes having the best from every team that participated. It is our way of ensuring the best talents get exposure irrespective of their team’s performance at the regional finals. It also fosters integration along the regional line.”
The PwC National Under 17 Championship has become the fodder for nurturing and progressing talents to the national team.