The Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF) is the official

governing body A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ge ...

of the sport of

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

. Its current headquarters is in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

. The NCF is Nigeria's representative at the

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world governing body of cricket. Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, its members are List of International Cricket Council members, 108 national associations, with 12 List of Internation ...

(ICC) and has been an associate member of that body since 2002. Nigeria used to be part of the

West Africa Cricket Council The West Africa Cricket Council was a regional body which organised cricket teams from Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. It ceased to exist in 1997 with the formation of the African Cricket Association, which now oversees all cricket admi ...

, which was an ICC member in its own right. The NCF is also a member of the

African Cricket Association The Africa Cricket Association (ACA) is an international body which coordinates the development of cricket in Africa. The ACA was founded in 1997, and has 23 member countries. The role of the ACA includes promoting the development of cricket in ...

History

In the 19th century, British colonial administrators first introduced and popularised the game of cricket in Nigeria. Nigeria's first international cricket match was against the

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

(now Ghana) in 1904. The Nigeria Cricket Association (expatriates) and the Nigeria Cricket Association (indigenous) were formed in 1932 and 1933 respectively. In 1951, a joint board of control was inaugurated in Lagos with each association retaining its identity. Six years later, in 1957, both expatriate and indigenous bodies merged to form the Nigeria Cricket Association (NCA). This name was changed to the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF) in 2006. In the 1960s the NCF was involved in a movement, which resulted in the formation of a sub-regional cricket body, the West Africa Cricket Federation (WACF), with headquarters in Nigeria. Later, in 1976, the WACF evolved into the West Africa Cricket Conference (WACC). Nigeria was granted Associate Membership of the ICC in 2002.

References

External links

Cricinfo-NigeriaNCF homepage
Cricket administration Sports organizations based in Lagos Sports governing bodies in Nigeria {{Cricket-org-stub