The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced Nigeria as the African regional winner of the 2023 ICC Development Award.
The world cricket governing body made this known in a statement on April 25, 2024 when it released the regional winners of the 2023 edition of the awards.
The ICC said the 2023 ICC Development award celebrates the world-leading initiatives and innovative programmes delivered by ICC members to grow the game around the globe.
The cricket body noted that the awards, established in 2002, were also aimed at highlighting the remarkable success stories of its members.
William Glenwright, ICC general manager, development, pointed out that Nigeria gained recognition for the success of its national under-17 championships.
According to William Glenwright:
“The Nigeria Cricket Federation under-17 Cricket Championship continues to provide competitive playing opportunities for boys and girls across the country.”
The annual under-17 championship, supported by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), remains pivotal in nurturing the sport at the grassroots level by identifying talented players who have later represented Nigeria in global competitions.
Meanwhile, the regional winners will now be put forward for voting to determine the global awardees in each category.
The PwC Under-17 Cricket Championship, which has been the rallying point for Nigeria’s developmental initiative, won the award for the Uyi Akpata-led Nigeria Cricket Federation.
According to the ICC statement on the project:
“The ICC Development Initiative of the Year award recognises the outstanding development initiative delivered during the year and regional winners include Nigeria Cricket Federation, whose Under-17 Cricket Championship continues to provide competitive playing opportunities for boys and girls across the country.”
In his reaction to the award, President of the Nigeria Cricket Federated, Uyi Akpata, stated:
“This is an award that celebrates the power of collaboration. PwC and several partners took a gamble on us and backed our developmental initiatives. It is gladdening that, it is yielding results on a global dimension.”
In recent years, Nigeria have been winner of “Cricket 4 Good Social Impact Initiative of the Year” for the developmental activities of the federation at the IDP camp in Edo State and the 100% Female Cricket Initiative of the Year for the massive girl-child enrolment initiative in Zamfara State.
The Nigerian women’s team have been on a steady rise, climbing from 39th on the global ranking to 26th in four years. This progress culminated in the country winning the Bronze medal at the African Games a few weeks ago in Ghana.
Sierra Leone and Namibia are also associate nations that won regional honours for the year in review by the International Cricket Council.
