NIGERIAN U-19 FEMALE SQUAD BEGIN TRAINING FOR CRICKET W'CUP QUALIFIERS

Read Time:1 Minute, 13 Second

In anticipation of the 2025 International Cricket Council Women’s U-19 World Cup qualifiers in Rwanda in August, Nigeria’s U-19 female cricket squad has begun preparations, according to reports.

The team’s first camping phase began last week in Ibadan under the direction of Sarah Bhakita, a former Kenya international. The team will camp again in May at the high-performance centre in Benin City.

Former Female Yellow Greens captain Blessing Etim, who retired after inspiring the senior squad to a historic bronze medal victory at the 2023 African Games in Ghana, provides assistance to Bhakita.

The team will also be coached by Leke Oyede, the head coach of the women’s senior national team.

“We have started training in earnest and the camping will go on till around July. The Ibadan camp has just closed and we will be proceeding to Benin next. Around that July, the girls will either finalise their preparations with an intensive training camp in Lagos or a training tour outside Nigeria,” Oyede said.

Nigeria did not qualify for the last edition of the tournament in South Africa and thus will be aiming to change that this time around, especially with the progress the country has made in women’s cricket since the last qualifiers in 2022.

The 2025 World Cup, which will be played in Malaysia and Thailand, is the second edition of the tournament.

Meanwhile, South Africa hosted the maiden edition, which was won by India in 2023.