We welcome you all into the month of September; and yes, we know, it has been a while. Like us, the game is currently taking a break in most of the leagues around the continent. However, the game has been absolutely vibrant on the continental stage. The ICC has been busy with sorting teams out for the various categories of the World Cups and as such, national teams all over Africa have been busy trying to get ready for their respective challenges.
It began with the Under 19 Men where 8 countries all over Africa were represented by promising starlets in Dar es Salaam for the ICC U19 Men’s World Cup Africa Qualifiers to see which 3 teams would make it into the next round of qualifying matches. The teams were split into two groups with Botswana, Malawi, Rwanda and Sierra Leone in one group while the other group was made up of Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria and hosts Tanzania.
The keenly contested tickets were snatched up by winners Tanzania, Sierra Leone and Nigeria. These three will progress in a few months to the Qualifiers for Division 1 where Uganda, Kenya and Namibia will be waiting and the six teams will do another round of battle for the ultimate representative for Africa to the 2026 U19 World Cup in Zimbabwe and Namibia.
As the U19 men wrapped up and bid farewell to Tanzania, neighbours Rwanda threw their doors open for the U19 women. Just like for their male counterparts, there are two divisions for the young ladies. Nine teams - Botswana, Eswatini, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique and Sierra Leone in Division 2 came together to fight for the two available slots into Division 1. Not only did these nations entertain us, we witnessed one of the biggest surprises in Africa’s cricketing history. Malawi were not satisfied with just qualifying, they did so in style as they beat every opposition they faced on their way to winning the competition. What is even more mindblowing is the fact that Kenya was part of the casualties claimed by Malawi on their way to the spectacular qualification.
Despite the defeat, Kenya will go with Malawi later in September into Division 1 where 5 other nations are already waiting to fight for the ticket to the World Cup next year.
Coming back to West Africa, not only are the leagues in the West African nation of Nigeria warming up for the new season, the country is getting ready for another round of their Youth Games where young talents from all over the country converge to express themselves and vie for national glory. It i s also from this competition that stars are identified for mentoring and development. Many of the stars that have flown the famous green-and-yellow began their sojourn from here and it will be interesting to see what the new crop of younglings have to showcase to the country.
Talking about development, the pioneers of cricket development in Nigeria, Howzat Foundation organized their 21st Cricket Holiday Coaching Clinic that was graced by Professor Osato-Giwa Osagie who addressed the young participants in various aspects of the game as it relates to their daily living. The event, which held at The Cricket Lab and the TBS cricket oval, aimed at shaping the outlook of these youngsters in preparation for the journey of life that is ahead of them.
We will pause here for now but there is more exciting cricket news coming your way in the next few days and the only way to be sure you will not miss out is to ensure you subscribe to our newsletter by following the link below:
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- A Groundsman