One of the successes of the PwC Under-17 National Cricket Championship that ended in Abuja on 20th February is the participation of the North East geo-political zone of the country.
The region, ravaged by insurgency, made a debut appearance at the third edition of the event with two Borno players featuring, each representing the region’s male and female teams.
Fourteen-year-old Lucky Sunday, one of the Borno-born players, said he was proud of himself.
“I am happy to have been in Abuja and I also thank Mr. Uyi Akpata, President of the Nigeria Cricket Federation for making it possible,” Sunday said. “ I know there’s a sport like cricket but I don’t know how to play it until our coach saw me and my friends one day and asked us to join one of the training sessions.
“I hesitated at first, but he assured us that we would enjoy the game. This was about a year ago and today, I made it to a major cricket tournament in Abuja,’’ the elated teenager noted.
Although the region did not qualify from the group stage of the event, Sunday said he was happy to have contributed his part, adding he hopes to adorn Nigeria’s colours in the future.
“As I go back home, I will continue to train hard and I hope that there will be more competitions like this to avail me the opportunity of meeting top opponents and learning from them. I hope that one day, I will be able to play in the national team,’’ he concluded.