Nigeria’s male U-19 cricket team, the Junior Yellow Greens, are optimistic about picking the only ticket to the 2024 ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup in Sri Lanka, as they battle five other teams in the last phase of the qualifiers, which commenced in Tanzania on Sunday.
Coach Daniel Gim’s side is eager to emulate the heroics of the class of 2019 when the likes of Peter Aho and Sylvester Okpe qualified Nigeria for its first-ever appearance at an ICC Cricket World Cup.
Following their nervous progression from the division two qualifiers in Abuja last year, the team has had three phases of intensive preparations ahead of the tournament in Tanzania.
After camping for a while in Lagos, they proceeded to India, where they had a two-week camp at the Omtex I Can We Can Cricket Institute before returning to Nigeria for another camp at the high-performance centre in Benin City, Edo State.
The team arrived in Tanzania last Thursday from Rwanda, where they played three matches against a senior selected Rwanda team, winning two and losing one.
While Nigeria will be relying on the senior team experiences of some of their players, the gaffer, Gim, believes the team is mentally prepared ahead of the task.
“Mental preparation and game awareness are things we have been focusing on,” the coach said.
“Our bowling is our trump card. It should take us over the line with the trio of Prosper Useni, captain Ridwan Abdulkareem and Chiemelie Udekwe at the front. In a round-robin event, everyone is our rival and we will tackle them as they come.”
President of the Nigeria Cricket Federation, Uyi Akpata, said Nigeria’s team is a product of grassroots campaigns and unrelenting commitment from stakeholders; to grow the game.
“We have, on several occasions, rattled the existing powerhouses of the game, and hence every team here is very wary of Nigeria at this event. On our part, we have presented a team that is solely homegrown, and a reflection of our best talents at the age category. We are more than confident we would be well-represented.” he said.
The Junior Yellow Greens opened their campaign against Sierra Leone in the early hours of Monday (today) and will face Namibia, Uganda, Kenya and hosts Tanzania in the next eight days.
