In advance of the inaugural Nigeria Super League, which will take place in Lagos from May 16 to May 30, the Nigeria Cricket Federation has selected players from both the elite and developmental categories, according to The PUNCH.
Following the conclusion of this year’s Club Cricket Committee Lagos tournament, NCF President Uyi Akpata had pledged to add the elite tournament to the Nigerian cricket calendar.
Six teams—the Central Eagles, Eastern Elephants, Middle-Belt Tigers, Northern Lions, Southern Sharks, and Western Dolphins—will compete in the Nigeria Cricket League.
The competition will take place at the Teslim Balogun Stadium Cricket Oval in Lagos, with each team representing a different part of the nation.
Twelve elite players and two players from the national age-grade teams will make up each of the fourteen teams. Each team had at least one elite opening batter, elite middle-order batter, elite pace bowler, elite pace bowler, elite spin bowler, core all-rounder, elite all-rounder, and squad players one and two. The elite players were chosen from the top talent in Nigeria based on positions and skill sets.
Taiwo Mohammed will captain the Eastern Elephants, while Peter Aho, a former Guinness World Record holder for the highest bowling stats in cricket, will guide the Central Eagles.
The Northern Lions will be led by Yellow Greens captain Sylvester Okpe, while Middle-Belt Tigers will be captained by another Yellow Greens mainstay and wicketkeeper, Sulaimon Runsewe. Vincent Adewoye will captain the Western Dolphins, and his brother Isaac Okpe will captain the Southern Sharks.
The top four teams will move on to the semi-finals after the round-robin format of the matches.
On Saturday, May 30, the victors of the semifinal matches will square off in the championship match.
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