Cricket: Oyo State to host South-West U-19 tournament

The Obafemi Awolowo Cricket Pitch, Ibadan, Oyo State, is set to host the third edition of the South-West U-19 Cricket Tournament tagged Jide Bademosi Cup from March 3 to March 6.

The Director of Tournament, Mr Okon Ukpong, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos that six states – Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti – would take part in the event.

According to Ukpong, the event is organised to revive the game of cricket in the South-West region.

He described the tournament as another way of preparing the region for a strong showing at the regional elite level.

The former Nigeria and West Africa captain said that the tournament was also organised to discover talents in the sport.

"The teams are expected to arrive on March 2; on March 3, March 4 and March 5 the tournament will be bubbling.

"Prof. Bademosi is our icon and we need to celebrate him; the six states in the South-West have confirmed their participation in the third edition of the competition.

"The South-West U-19 event is basically a reawakening to the region, especially based on the development of the game in the other regions in the country. We don't want to lag behind.

"We made up our minds to see interns of players potential and that is why we did not organise the U-17 championship,'' Ukpong said.

He said that another region in the country organises the National U-17 cricket developmental programme, "but we are resolved in putting the U-19 tournament on ground.

"Organising U-19 competition is to prepare the South-West for stronger regional presence for the elite level.

"We all know that Prof. Bademosi made a tremendous contribution to the development of cricket in the South-West, especially in Oyo State, which is why the competition was named after him.

"The competition is to appreciate his relentless efforts at developing cricket over the years," Ukpong said.

The former Chairman of Oyo State Cricket Association and Chairman Technical Committee of the Nigeria Cricket Federation lauded the present board of the NCF headed by Uyi Akpata for doing well since its inauguration.

According to Ukpong, the South-West is doing so much to complement the development of the NCF especially in the area of coaching.

"The present NCF board is doing very well. What we are doing in the South-West is just complementary. The only area that I think we need to look at critically is capacity in terms of coaching.

"There are still loopholes in that area and we need to look critically at that because that is the only thing that will make us to be more visible internationally.

"If so much is done administratively and in terms of infrastructure and the coaching content is not robust, it might fall short in terms of invisibility internationally," Okon said.