All is set for the second edition of the South-West U-19 Cricket Tournament tagged ‘The Jide Bademosi Cup’ scheduled for Obafemi Awolowo Stadium and Government College, Ibadan.
According to the Tournament Director, Okon Ukpong said the tournament will commence today (Tuesday) and will see Lagos, Oyo, Ogun and Osun competiting to the top prize.
Speaking at the press briefing on Monday at Book Sellers, Jericho, Ibadan, Okon, the former national team player disclosed that the tournament was aimed at hunting talents in the South-West adding that the competition would enable cricketers exhibit their skills and sharpen their level of competitiveness.
He said: “All the seven states in South-West were expected to participate but unfortunately three states do not have U-19 teams hence we will be having four states competing and they will be played on round robbin format.
“This competition will afford the cricketers the opportunity to showcase their skills and compete with their counterparts from other states.”
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“We are celebrating the talents, Nigeria just qualified for U-19 World Cup, it is a fall out of the competition we had two years ago, crop of players made the national team and about five of them, four from Oyo State and I from Lagos.
“Round robbin is a formation in which each competitor plays in turn against every other. This will enable all teams to compete among themselves.
“There are awards, equipment and grants to participating states. We don’t want to expose them to money. We are not encouraging playing for money,” he said.