National talent pool thrills Ashanka Gurusinha News

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National talent pool thrills Ashanka Gurusinha

By Daily Sports Nigeria on February 21, 2022

National cricket coach, Ashanka Gurusinha, who is also Nigeria’s High Performance Manager, yesterday, described the current pool of players in the country as a guarantee for the future of the sport.

Gurusinha, who spoke at the final of the Third PwC National U-17 Cricket Championship in Abuja, said the last three years have been rewarding for the talent discovery mission of the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF).

“I want to say that the discovery of talent has been massive. Last year, it was in Benin City and this year it has been awesome in Abuja. We can only progress from here,” the former Sri Lankan national cricket team player said.

“Nothing excites me like seeing what kids do in cricket and I have been highly impressed with what I have witnessed here so far,” he also said.

The national team coach, however, cautioned that he would not get teenage players discovered at this championship straight into the senior team as may be expected.

“Notwithstanding that two of the U-17 players spotted last year were drafted to the senior team, there is need to watch the current U-17 players evolve. They still need to be honed before handed a bigger challenge and they can always make it to the U-19 team to continue their growth,” Gurusinha said.

Meanwhile, NCF Vice President, Oyewale Obalola, has said the federation is nearer its projection for the future in view of the developmental strides of the last four years.

“Never in Nigeria’s cricket history have so many kid players emerged from different parts of the country. At the inception of our administration, we projected to use cricket to get kids off the streets while helping them to serve themselves and ultimately the society. I must say the results we have recorded on this score have surpassed our expectation,” Obalola said.