Published: Sep 16, 2015, 02:53 AM (IST)
Edited: Sep 16, 2015, 02:53 AM (IST)
Lagos: Nigeria was making arrangements to stage a national women’s cricket championship in October, an official said on Wednesday. Spokesperson for the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF) Musa Ehizoje said five teams from five geopolitical zones would participate in the event scheduled to take place in Abuja, the nation’s capital city. The teams will be winners in the various zonal champions, Xinhua news agency reported. He said the restive northeast region will not participate due to the insecurity in that zone. The spokesperson said the essence of the championship was to encourage and expose female cricketers to tournaments from where they would improve on the game. Ehizoje added that the exact date of the championship was not certain as the NCF board had yet to conclude on the date.
Earlier in 2015, it was Cricket Australia who made efforts to get women cricket back on international stage. Cricket Australia (CA) had then confirmed that eight teams will compete in the inaugural Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL), to be launched in the 2015-16 season. The teams will be aligned with the existing eight teams competing in the KFC T20 Big Bash League (BBL), with the decision endorsed by the CA Board. Speaking about the competition, CA CEO James Sutherland said: “We see T20 as the premium format of the women’s game and the WBBL is an exciting concept that will increase the promotion and exposure of women’s cricket. “We want cricket to be the number one sport for girls and women in Australia and we believe that the WBBL can assist this goal by creating an inspiring visible pathway for the next generation of players, fans and volunteers,” he said. Read: Women’s Big Bash League to feature 8 teams
