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Tag: cricket

  • Cricket stars share experience on Glo- sponsored African Voices Playmakers

    Cricket stars share experience on Glo- sponsored African Voices Playmakers

    CNN African Voices Playmakers, a program sponsored by telecommunications behemoth, Globacom, will showcase three top African cricket players.

    Suné Luus, the former captain of the Rwandan national cricket team, Eric Dusingizimana, the captain of the South African National Women’s Cricket Team, and Craig Ervine, the captain of the Zimbabwean National Cricket Team, will each share experience on how the sport is quickly gaining popularity on the African continent and how they are stepping up to the plate to make their passion more popular.

    Read Also: Cricket to make Olympics return after 128 years

    Dusingizimana, a cricketer who was born in 1987, holds a Guinness World Record in the sport, which he set in 2016 for a charitable purpose.

    In order to break the Guinness World Record, he batted continuously for 51 hours in 2016. In contrast, Luus, 27, is an all-rounder who bowls leg spin for the South African national cricket team.

    Zimbabwe’s limited overs team is led by international cricketer Ervine, 35.

  • Cricket to make Olympics return after 128 years

    Cricket to make Olympics return after 128 years

    Cricket is set to return to the summer Olympics for the LA Games in 2028, 128 years after the sport made its only appearance.

    The development was confirmed by LA28 on Monday in a media release where it stated that cricket – along with baseball/softball, flag football, lacrosse and squash – had been recommended for “potential inclusion” as new sports to the LA Olympics. The LA28 statement also confirmed that its recommendation would be “reviewed” and ratified this weekend by the IOC at its executive board meeting in Mumbai, on October 14 and 15.

    Casey Wasserman, LA28’s chairperson, said that all the five sports recommended were “relevant, innovative and community-based” sports which could enhance the Olympics movement.

    “LA28’s proposed sports ignite the imagination on the field of play and drive culture off it. They’re relevant, innovative and community-based, played in backyards, schoolyards, community centers, stadiums and parks across the U.S. and the globe,” Wasserman said. “They will bring new athletes to the Games, engage diverse fanbases and expand the Games’ presence in digital spaces, further amplifying LA28’s mission to deliver an unparalleled experience.”

    ICC chairman Greg Barclay was “delighted” but guarded in his reaction. “We are delighted that LA28 have recommended cricket for inclusion in the Olympics,” Barclay said in a media release. “Whilst this is not the final decision, it is a very significant landmark towards seeing cricket at the Olympics for the first time in more than a century.”

    While it didn’t feature in the original list of 28 sports finalised by the IOC last February, cricket’s efforts to be part of the Olympics received a significant boost last July when it was added to a shortlist of nine to be reviewed by the IOC for addition. It was originally vying for a spot alongside baseball/softball, flag football, lacrosse, break dancing, karate, kickboxing, squash and motorsport.

    Read Also: Saka ruled out for England through injury

    During its presentation in front of LA28, the ICC recommended a six-team T20 event for both men and women. The participating teams would comprise the top-six ranked sides in the ICC’s men’s and women’s T20 rankings on a cut-off date. The ICC proposed the T20 format as the best format since both LA28 and the IOC had emphasised that the format should be one in which there is a world championship conducted (which ruled out the T10 format, for example), has a compact duration (which ruled out ODIs) and had significant spectator interest.

    It could not be confirmed if the ICC had finalised a tournament structure, which until recently was still under discussions.

    A sport that is played by nearly half the world’s population, cricket has featured only once in the global games, 128 years before the proposed event at LA 2028. In Paris 1900, just one game was played where Great Britain pipped hosts France to the gold medal. On that occasion, the game was played over two days and consisted of four innings like a first-class fixture.

  • Cricket: Nigeria hosts four-nation West Africa Trophy

    Cricket: Nigeria hosts four-nation West Africa Trophy

    Nigeria Cricket Federation, will play host to the first edition of West African Trophy, which is scheduled to kick-off at the Tafawa Balewa Square Oval in Lagos between October 4th  and 15th.

    Ghana, Sierra Leone and Rwanda, are the other teams that would be represented in the ten-days event.

    Uyi Akpata, President of the Federation, has said that the event is a result of cementing of new partnerships with new sponsors and will create platforms for the exposure of the national team to more international engagement which is key to their development.

     “This event is the first in its series, and we are glad to put it together, along with some partners, especially Dafabet. Again, it will form part of  events that will prep the National Men’s Cricket team “The Yellow-Greens” ahead of other international engagements later in the year.” He said.

    Two matches will be played daily from the opening day till the final day.

     “Sierra Leone and Ghana are our rivals on the West African corridor, and Rwanda’s profile has been on the rise as well. So, it will be a great chance to test the might of the Nigerian team, which has also been beefed-up of late with the promotion of former U19 players.”

    Read Also: Onuachu just can’t stop scoring in Turkey

    Nigeria’s team would be led by Kenyan Steve Tikolo as chief coach while Slyvester Okpe is the captain.

    The opening match will see Nigeria taking on Rwanda by 9am on Wednesday at the TBS Oval while Ghana will take on Sierra Leone later in the day.

    General Manager of the Federation, Emeka Igwilo, said  that the event also draws on the growing capacity of the Federation to host international facility, both in facility and personnels.

    According to him: “Amidst all these are the up skilling of our staffs and development of special relationship across industries for event management and all the accoutrements necessary for international event hosting. This, follows naturally from the uptick we have been making in games development across the country as our yearly recruitment goals that has crossed 250, 000 per year now.”

    Nigeria has six turf wickets that can host international cricket matches now, from zero in just four years ago. The International Cricket Council, ICC, has also made a note of Nigeria, as one of the countries to give special attention to, to help sustain the gains it has made in recent years.

  • Erratum: “Ire” and “esunsun”, the cricket and the winged termite

    I admit it: in last week’s column in the midst of talking playfully about the author’s passion for consuming roasted crickets in his secondary schooldays, I added a quite unnecessary elaboration on the entomological identity of the cricket by saying “the winged, flying cousin of the grasshopper”. This was of course not only a needless elaboration it was also wrong. Neither the grasshopper nor the cricket is winged and neither can fly. Obviously but without knowing it at the time, my mind had switched to my own passion during my childhood for consuming roasted or fried esunsun, the winged and flying termite that usually came out in nighttime after a rainfall. And that was how, in writing teasingly about my teacher’s one quant culinary delicacy in his youth, I inadvertently revealed mine! Here I am reminded of the adage which says that the youth who boasts that his wardrobe is richer than an elder’s must remember that he does not have as many rags as the elder!

     

    Biodun Jeyifo                                                                                                                                                       bjeyifo@fas.harvard.edu

  • The governor as a cricket

    There is a saying of the orient about something bigger than the cricket invading its abode. Of course the abode of the cricket is its hole. Consider the state of angst and utter hopelessness the poor critter is thrown into should a bigger creature seize its space. Stretching the adage a little, your anxiety would know no bounds should an overwhelming force invaded your residence for instance or occupied your community.

    Such must be the situation with what Hardball would describe as the whimpering trio. Three governors have recently been squeaking like besieged crickets. They are governors: Aminu Masari, Abdulaziz Yari and Kashim Shettima; they lead Katsina, Zamfara and Borno states respectively. They also bear as part of their titles, chief security officers of their various states.

    But not unlike the cricket, some things akin to behemoths have crept up their domains and all they can do is indulge in anxious whingeing and helpless wringing of the hands. Let’s hear them:

    Governor Masari of Katsina speaking early in the year said: “Kidnapping is now the order of the day in Katsina State. There are armed robbers all over the state…

    “The people of Katsina in 34 local government areas now sleep with one eye closed.”

    From Zamfara State, filters in Governor Yari’s lamentations: ” You are aware what is happening in Zamfara State and some part of the neighbouring state on the issue of banditry, abduction and insurgency… I’m ready to quit as governor of Zamfara State over insecurity,” he groaned, literally calling for the imposition of a state of emergency.

    From Borno State, Governor Shettima declared plaintively that the security situation in his beleaguered state was getting worse. He confessed that though he had been known to boast not quite long ago that Borno was safer than Lagos, he merely wanted to infect the atmosphere with a dose of optimism, “… The reality is that while so much was achieved by our gallant military men and women, we are today faced with serious challenges in Borno State.”

    Dr. Khalid Abubakar Aliyu gave vent to the gory situation in Zamfara. He is the secretary-general of the influential Jama’atu Nasril Islam, JNI, and a statement on behalf of the body titled, “Silence is no longer golden”, reads:

    “This is utterly reprehensible and unacceptable, for hooligans and wayward persons to hold a whole state to ransom to no avail. Where is the government? Where are the security agencies? Where are the political community and the religious leaders?”

    The troubled governors, like besieged crickets, simply fled to Abuja to seek help. Here lies the argument for restructuring the polity which some of these selfsame governors repudiated. And here we are: a so-called chief security officer is no better than a cricket!

     

  • Cricket to feature in Nigeria Sports Festival

    The President of Nigeria Cricket Federation, NCF, Emeka Onyeama, on Saturday in Abuja assured that the game would feature at the 2015 National Sports Festival, NSF.

    Onyeama told journalists that the Federation had made efforts to ensure the sport’s inclusion in the NSF which has its participants drawn from all the states of the federation.

    “We have made tremendous efforts and I can assure that cricket will be part of the next NSF. We have done all our presentations and they (organisers) are very pleased with us and they told us categorically that cricket will be included in the festival. So, Nigerians should look forward to it,” he said.

    Onyeama also said the Federation would be organising many championships later in the year.

    “Starting from next month, there is going to be a beehive of activities in Nigeria.

    “We are having the under-15 boys and under-17 girls tournaments, as well as the under-19 championship and the national men and women championships. Though the venue for some of these championships have not been fixed yet, but we are sure about them,” he said.

    Onyeama, who called on corporate and individual sponsors to help support the game, also said Abuja would be the venue for the National T20 Cricket Club Championship holding in the last quarter of 2015.

    “We are preparing towards the National T20 League Club Championship which is coming up in the last quarter of the year and is sponsored by Montage TV, a cable network.

    ”Immediately, our turf wicket in the Abuja National Stadium is completed, we are going to start that tournament,” he said.

    The NCF President also said the T20 championship was currently ongoing in other states in the country.

    “Many states are playing the club championship right now. Rivers and Delta states are currently holding the championship while Lagos finished its own last weekend. The winners of the state championships will participate in the national event,” Onyeama said.

    The United Cricket Club of Abuja, UCCA, and Club Cricket Abuja, CCA, played the only match of the day.

    UCCA won the toss and elected to field, but CCA scored 115 runs for the loss of six wickets in 20 overs.

    In the second innings, UCCA came in to chase and scored  120 runs in 19.5 overs to win the match by four wickets.

    Asians Cricket Club, ACCA, and Pakistan Stallion Cricket Club, PSCC, shared points after their game was washed away by a heavy downpour which prevented the match from holding.

    The championship, which is organised by the Abuja Cricket Association and the NCF, is holding from June 6 to 14.

  • Cricket legend Richie Benaud dies

    Legendary cricket commentator Richie Benaud has passed away at the age of 84.

    Benaud had been admitted to a Sydney hospice on Thursday after being diagnosed with skin cancer in November and passed away this morning surrounded by his family.

    “At the moment it is pretty dire,” his former Channel Nine colleague Michael Slater told radio station 2KY on Friday morning.

    “Things are not looking terrific, everyone is rallying around him.”

    A talented cricketer, Benaud notched 63 Test matches for Australia as an all-rounder between 1952 and 1964 and became the first player to score 2,000 Test runs and take 200 Test wickets.

    He also never lost a series as captain and would later have a significant impact on the world of commentary.

    His first foray into the commentary box came on the BBC when he was still captaining Australia in 1960, and later spent decades covering the sport for Channel Nine.

    Considered by many to be the voice of cricket, he was retired from the gantry in 2013 when a car crash left him with two fractured vertebrae.

    “Richie Benaud’s passing has robbed us not only of a national treasure but a lovely man,” Nine Network CEO David Gyngell said in a statement.

    “Richie earned the profound and lasting respect of everyone across the world of cricket and beyond. First as an outstanding player and captain, then as an incomparable commentator and through it all, as a wonderful human being.”

    He is survived by his wife Daphne and two sons from a previous marriage.

  • Nigeria Cricket Association AGM/ Board meeting: Ex- NCF President Kwesi Sagoe suspended

    Nigeria Cricket Association AGM/ Board meeting: Ex- NCF President Kwesi Sagoe suspended

    • For gross indiscipline, anti-federation activities

    • Five-Man Committee to investigate allegations

    •Decisions sent to ICC

    The former President of the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF), who is the current President of the Africa Cricket Association,  Kwesi Sagoe has been suspended indefinitely by the Congress of the Nigeria Cricket Federation at its Annual General Meeting held at the Media Center of the Abuja National Stadium on Saturday, March 14, 2015.

    Making his submissions for moving a motion for the indefinite suspension of a board member of the NFC, Kwesi Sagoe, who is also the incumbent President/outgoing President of the Africa Cricket Association (ACA), the Chairman of  the Edo State Cricket Association, Barrister Oviawe Ighagbon reeled out his submissions for moving the motion:

    “My pleading is very simple and beyond an issue; we must be seen taking steps forward and such steps forward must be critical and must give some persons lessons. This game does not belong to one man. Until we free ourselves from the hands of a cabal which has taken our game to the Golgotha of crucifixion, cricket in Nigeria will not survive. Mr. President (Mr. Emeka Onyeama), I want to move to the hearing of the house certain areas which were corroborated, sending e-mails that went through persons here and there and also a newspaper publication has made the country (Nigeria) to be exposed to ridicule.

    “Mr. President I want to specifically indict in this my analysis Mr. Kwesi Sagoe and whichever board member that addressed the issue one after the other because my heart bleeds when I see these issues. His response identifying Nigeria as hypocritical, to me that statement is wicked, that statement is callous, that statement does not depict the personality of a man who was appointed and not elected by the government to represent its interest on the international stage. I think this AGM must not always be seen to have the capacity to bark but also the capacity to bite.

    “In the light of the aforementioned I want to move a motion for the immediate suspension of Mr. Kwesi Sagoe from the (NCF) Board subject to a committee that will be set up to investigate the veracity and the truth and activities of this man. Thank you.”

    There were no objections to the motion moved by Ighagbon and the motion was seconded by Mc Farlane Ejah and Kwesi Sagoe was suspended at the NCF’s Annual General Meeting held at the Media Center of the Abuja National Stadium on Saturday, March 14, 2015.

    A board member of the NCF, Olisa Egwuatu, after the suspension of Sagoe, alleged: “My only grouse is that Mr (Kwesi) Sagoe has damaged the nation and what we are going through at NCF level particularly our condition in which we get our funding. Mr Sagoe is the architect of that system that stalled every move we made and economically strangled it all. If the committee wants me to give evidence I will gladly do that.  All I am saying is that Kwesi Sagoe is number one trouble of Nigerian cricket.”

    Immediately after the suspension of the ACA President from the NCF Board, a five-Man committee to investigate the allegations levelled against Kwesi Sagoe was announced with the members as follows: Barrister Oviawe Ighagbon, Mr. Oludare Davis Emmanuel- Secretary, Mr. Oklusegun Akinyemi, Mr. Mc Farlane Ejah and a Representative from the National Sports Commission.

    The Chairman of the Media and Publicity Committee of the NCF, Kayode Adeniyi also told SportingLife yesterday that the “decisions at the NCF AGM was also sent to the International Cricket Council Saturday night while three standing committees were named during a Board Meeting that was held at Ibro Hotel, Abuja, same Saturday, which included Marketing, League and Ground Committees.

    “The Vice President of the NCF, Mr. Soki Dakoru who allegedly endorsed the nomination of Mr. Kwesi Sagoe for the second term in office of the ACA was asked to write to South Africa a letter of withdrawal since the letter was not authorised by the entire Board of NCF and was not duly signed by its President, Mr. Emeka Onyeama which Mr. Soki Dakoru duly complied with,” Mr. Adeniyi also disclosed.

  • Australian Batsman, Hughes dies

    Australian Batsman, Hughes dies

    Death has been announced of Philip Hughes, an Australian Batsman, after being hit in the back-left side of the head while batting for South Australia against New South Wales at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Tuesday.

    James Sutherland, Australia Cricket Chief Executive Officer, on Thursday morning confirmed the passing away of 25-years old Hughes last night, succumbing to a serious head injury.

    Until his death, Hughes was an Australian international who had made 26 Test appearances as well as playing in 25 One-Day Internationals for his country, and had been tipped for a recall due to his impressive form recently.

    Breaking the news of Hughes death, Australia team doctor, Peter Brukner released a statement, saying: “It is my sad duty to inform you that a short time ago Phillip Hughes passed away. He never regained consciousness following his injury on Tuesday

  • One-day cricket awareness clinic ends in Ilorin

    One-day cricket awareness clinic ends in Ilorin

    THE Nigeria Cricket Federation and Kwara State Cricket Association organized a one-day cricket awareness programme for schools yesterday at the Main-Bowl of the stadium complex. The clinick has been described as a welcomed development toward reviving the sport in the state.

    The 1st Vice Chairman of the Kwara State Cricket Association, Mallam M. J. Daudu, while briefing newsmen after the programme which brought over 400 students from 25 secondary schools in the state together said that it’s a good home coming for cricket in the state, pointing out that cricket started in Kwara state.

    ‘Cricket started in Kwara state. As a matter of fact, Kwara has the first Cricket Pitch (Oval) in Nigeria, and most of the nation’s cricketers started from this state’, he said.

    Kwara State Stadium Manager and Board member of the Cricket Federation of Nigeria, Wale Obalola, who coordinated the programme expressed satisfaction with the turn-out and conduct of students and their officials during awareness programme and clinic, which he said, is a follow up to the desire of the Board to take cricket to the grassroots.

    According to Obalola, cricket equipments like bats, balls and wickets will be distributed to the schools after the awareness programme.

    The students were given launch packs and transport fairs to and fro their various schools, and were also kitted for the exercise.

    Obalola said that the programme was a follow-up to the National U-15 Boys and U-17 Girls Cricket Championship in Abuja in June, where Kwara state represented the North Central.

    Kwara came fourth in the U-15, and 3rd in the U-17, and four boys and three girls have been invited to the national team in preparation for the U-17 international meet in Uganda later in the year.

    One of the girls, Kehinde Abdulkadri won four laurels in the national competition. She won the Best Batman award, Upcoming cricketer of the competition award, the golden boot, while she was also adjudged as the Most Valuable Player of the competition..

    The Director of Sports, Tunde Kazeem and the Administrator of Kwara Football Academy, Mutiu Adepoju opened the clinic with demonstration games.