The Leadership of the National Sports Commission, NSC, has hailed the Nigeria U19 Cricket team for their historic achievements at the T20 ICC U19 Cricket World Cup in Malaysia.
The Nigerian Cricket team made a mockery of pre tournament analysis, predictions and expectations with their performance to make the competition’s Super six.
The Nigerian girls also secured an automatic ticket to the next U19 Cricket World cup after they shocked the Cricket World with wins against Cricket Giants like New Zealand and a hard-fought win against Ireland in their last game.
The NSC Chairman, Mallam Shehu Dikko, has described their performance as a monumental achievement that is worthy of appreciation and celebration.
He said: “These girls gave our country another global recognition with what they achieved in Malaysia. You know many people used to think Nigeria is only good in a few sports like football, but our U19 team showed the other side of our Sporting potential as a country, making it to Nigeria first ever cricket World cup and doing so well”.
As a Commission this is why we believe in the continuous improvement of every sport from the Grassroot through the Renewed Hope initiatives for Nigeria Sports Economy, RHINSE, campaign.
“Our target now is to improve on this momentum from the World cup and support the Nigeria cricket federation to ensure more talents are discovered from the Grassroot for a sustainable growth of the Sports”, he concluded.
In addition, the Director General of the National Sports Commission, Hon Bukola Olopade, said the U19 Cricket team have exemplified the dogged vision of the Sports Commission under the current leadership to change the perception of Sports development.
“What we saw these girls displayed in Malaysia just helped to buttress the new dawn that Mr President has brought into Nigerian Sports with the establishment of the Sports Commission and we are very excited that every sport is aligning to the vision”.
“We are not sweeping their achievements in Malaysia under the carpet and this is why we have made arrangements for them to be properly welcomed back when they return to the country on Friday in Lagos”
Nigeria finished the tournament as the 5th overall best Cricket U19 Country in the World even as a debutant in Malaysia.
