By; JACOB ONJEWU DICKSON, Kaduna.
In ensuring that Kaduna State retains its number one position in Nigeria, Zonal Representative of the North-West on the board of the Cricket Federation of Nigeria, Professor Yahaya Ukwanya has appealed to the Kaduna State Government to donate permanent fields dedicated to cricket.
He made the appeal while speaking at the Arewa Zonal Cricket Competition which ended at the Murtala Square, Kaduna on Sunday night.
Speaking further, he said that the only court available in Kaduna at the Murtala Square besides being insufficient is being shared with over 10 football teams that frequent the field.
“Pitches for cricket are not common in the country. The only one here in Kaduna we have to share with more than 10 football teams. We appeal to the state government to assist in building dedicated pitches and fencing them for us,” he appealed.
Professor Ukwanya who was the sponsor of the Arewa Zonal Cricket explained that though the state government was supporting the game, more needed to be done.
“That Team Kaduna won gold at the National Youth Games in Ilorin was no fluke, but as a result of planning and hard work. Also, the key players of the national U-19 team that represented Nigeria recently are from Kaduna,” he explained.
He said that though the equipment used for the game is expensive, the cricket teams from the various states in the country need basic logistics support from their state governments so that there would be an all round development of the game in the country.
