We are on course to beat wet season lull, says Oriss

Secretary-General of the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF), Taiwo Oriss, has said that activities of Federation has been ramped up ahead of the possible outdoor lull that the height of the rainy season will usher in.

Speaking on the recent screening of national team players at the Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos, which the head coach and National High Performance Manager, Asanka Gurusinga, conducted, Oriss said: “We just rounded off the national screening for the senior men’s side in Lagos over the weekend and there were high hopes from the feedbacks from the technical team given the competitiveness by the players.

“Again, our plans are that once the rain gets in the way of active open field training, the selected players can begin to be involved in some indoor conditioning ahead of a number of international engagements for the later part of the year.”

The national teams, men and women, will be involved in a number of international engagements at the later part of the year and the screening for the national men’s team, he said, will enable the handlers to drill individual players and condition them ahead of the events the country will be featuring in.

“We are expecting that the national team will be engaged in the T20 World Cup qualification in the last quarter of the year, apart from other possible international exposures.

“As for the women team, Nigeria should be in Rwanda for the annual Kwibuka Invitational event. The U-19 men and U-19 women team, that is just being assembled, should also be engaged as well.

“That is why we are in a race to get all the national teams started with the necessary screening, possible exposures and specialised training for individual players, while the weather is inclement for outdoor games,” he added.

He said the men’s national team, which just concluded their training in Lagos, had 36 players, adding that after the one-week training, the number will be pruned down.

“The women’s team due for Rwanda is also expected to resume camping soonest along with the women U-19 side,” he said.