By Samuel E. J. Pearce
Ahead of Kigali Group B Qualifier, Sierra Leone Cricket Association under Nineteen (U19) has invited 24 players to a High-Performance Camp ahead of the country’s appearance in the U19 International Cricket Council Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup qualifiers.
The competition is expected to start from 29th November to 9th December 2022 in Kigali, Rwanda and Sierra Leone is in Group B for the African Sub-Region qualifier.
The Chairman Board of Directors for Sierra Leone Cricket Association, Francis Trevor Samura said the Elite Cricket Franchise League is the highest tier of the domestic league in Sierra Leone and the players who took part in the just concluded T20 cricket premier league in May and June 2022 were drawn from different clubs to play the elite cricket franchise league for the selection of the national side that is already concluded.
The high performance camp is the level where the National team is selected for preparation ahead of the competition. He added that the team is expected to depart from the shores of Sierra Leone on the 27th of December 2022.
Francis furthered that they are prepared for the team’s participation in the national trials. He however revealed that they are still working on things like equipment, training kits, tickets, accommodation, and allowances for the team. “Unfortunately the media is not sponsored to be part of the delegation, for the past four months now the government has not been supporting us and we have been winning different titles and medals, now we are hoping to go and qualify for the T20 Men’s World Cup and we are asking Government through the Ministry of sport, National Sports Authority, and the Ministry of Finance to help us,” he said. He also asked that a foreign coach be hired to help improve the team for top competitions for a better result. The following 24 players were selected from the just concluded Elite Cricket Franchise League based on performance
1. Rohan
2. Zahid Khan
3. Lansana Lamin
4. George Edward Ngegba
5. Raymond Coker
6. Abass Gbla
7. Chernor Bah
8. Ibrahim Sinneh Kamara
9. Yegbeh Jalloh
10. Alusine Turay
11. Samuel Conteh
12. Edmond Ernest
13. Bami Williams
14. John Bangura
15. Mohamed Shamshad Khan
16. Edward Marrah
17. Solomon Williams
18. John Lassayo
19. Eric Musa Turay
20. Sulaiman Tarawally
21. Ishmael Komba
22. Aruna Kainessie
23. Saheb Khan
24. Samuel Coker
Eight countries will take part in the Kigali Qualifier namely; Nigeria, Tanzania, Mozambique, Ghana, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, Cameroon, and Eswatini.
The top two teams from Group A and Group B will join Namibia and Tanzania to compete for the final World Cup spot, a pathway to the ICC Men’s T20 Cricket World Cup 2024 in USA and West Indies. The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Africa Division 1 Qualifier has been deferred to July 2023 in Tanzania.
