Nigerian Cricketers Long Walk to Victory

Cricket was introduced to Nigeria in 1800 by British Colonialists as part of their sport which they played among themselves and the Nigeria officials. The first International match was played in 1904 between Nigeria and The Gold Coast (Ghana).

The Cricket Associations was formed in 1930 for local and expatriate cricketers, and in 1957 Associations was merged. 

Nigeria Cricketers joins International Cricket Council in 2002.

All this while, it has never draw the attention of Nigerians because it was not popular compare to other sport like football.

This is the more reason why it shocked the world when the Under-19 team qualifies for World Cup recently. 

It was a jubilation galore, players knelt down, praised God and some even cried after the winning runs were struck that saw Nigeria through to their first-ever cricket World Cup.

Bowler Peter Aho, who had only just turned 16, scored the crucial runs in a closely fought victory over Sierra Leone at last year's qualifying tournament in Namibia.

But there was no collective holding of breath at home among Nigeria's 200 million people as the final overs were played.

As I stated above, We Nigeria dont cherish or like cricket, that is why we do not care either they win or not.

Peter Aho scored the crucial runs that saw Nigeria through

The moment Aho struck what would be the final ball and made his run, there was an explosion of emotion in the air, His teammates charged forward, the official who could not watch swung around and sped off with the rest towards the batsmen.

They all embraced Aho - he had done it, they had done it, Nigeria was going to the World Cup.

Looking back, team captain Sylvester Okpe found the fact that his team qualified hard to believe.

"Sometimes, I pinch myself. In fact, we still google the moment to be sure it's not a dream," he said.

For a team that had been relegated to the second division of African cricket in 2015 and only got back into the top division in 2018, getting to the World Cup was beyond what many had imagined. It was a long walk to victory indeed.

We at E. A Olatoye's Blog, heartily congratulate our gallant Junior Yellow Greens and wish them, a successful under 19 cricket world cup tournament, though in the group of death.

Source: BBC