The Nigeria national cricket team is the men's team that represents the country of

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 ...

international cricket International cricket matches are played between teams representing their nations, normally organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The main forms are Test matches, One-Day matches and Twenty20 matches. Most games are played ...

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 ...

has been played in the country since the late 19th century, and the national team played their first match in 1904, when a team representing the Lagos Colony played the

Gold Coast Colony The Gold Coast was a British Crown colony on the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa from 1821 until its independence in 1957 as Ghana. The term Gold Coast is also often used to describe all of the four separate jurisdictions that were under the ad ...

.''Encyclopedia of World Cricket'' by Roy Morgan, Sportsbooks Publishing, 2007 The Nigeria Cricket Association has been an associate member of 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) since 2002.Nigeria
at CricketArchive

History

Early years

Cricket has been played in Nigeria since the late 19th century when the game was introduced by the British. Contacts between the administration in Lagos and their counterparts in

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 Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

) led to an international at Race Course (now

Tafawa Balewa Square The Tafawa Balewa Square, (TBS) is a ceremonial ground (originally called "Race Course") in Lagos Island, Lagos. History Lagos Race Course now TBS, was a sports field that hosted horse racing, but included a section for football and ground t ...

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 ...

on 25 May 1904, the

winning by 22 runs. The match became an annual fixture and for the first three matches was multi-racial. The fourth fixture in December 1906 was for Europeans only, and the African population started their own annual fixture in 1907. Internationals stopped for the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and did not restart until the mid-1920s. Between the two world wars, cricket began to become more formally organised in the country with two cricket associations for the Europeans and Africans being formed in 1932 and 1933 respectively.

First-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

ers from England began to appear in the annual matches against Gold Coast, and the 1939 match, the last before World War II ended in a 58 run win for Gold Coast. Matches resumed after the war with a five-day match in

in 1947 which ended in a draw. The 1949 match went the way of the Gold Coast. As the number of Europeans working in the country reduced, the quality of the African players increased and cricket began to be organised on multi-racial lines in 1956.

Post independence

Following Nigeria's independence in 1960, there was much interest in cricket. Annual matches against

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

and Gambia national cricket team, The Gambia began in 1964, and were evenly contested until the late 1970s, when

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

began to become more popular in the country. Cricket began a process of decline, and when

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

toured in 1974, Nigeria lost two of the three matches and drew the other. They also lost heavily to the MCC in 1976. Internal problems with both the Nigeria Cricket Association and in Nigeria itself led to a decline in standards, though Nigeria formed a majority of the players on the

West Africa cricket team The West African cricket team was a team representing the countries of Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone in international cricket whilst they were an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) between 1976 and 2003. They p ...

that became an ICC associate member in 1976. The West Africa team took part in the

ICC Trophy The ICC World Cup Qualifier (previously called the ICC Trophy and officially known as the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup Qualifier) is a One-Day International (ODI) cricket tournament that serves as the culmination of the Cricket World Cup qualifi ...

tournaments of

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...

and

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

before withdrawing from the 2001 tournament in Ontario. Nigeria still continued to play on their own on occasion, though they sometimes withdrew from tournaments, as at the 1998 Africa Cricket Association Championship. The West African Cricket Conference ceased to exist in 2002, and Nigeria became an associate member of the ICC in their own right the same year.

ICC membership

Nigeria's first tournament after becoming an ICC member on their own was the 2002 Africa Cup in

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

. Nigeria finished fourth in their group after their only win of the tournament against

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...

. They finished 5th in the Africa Cricket Association Championships in 2004, their only win coming against last placed Tanzania, thus failing to qualify for the

2005 ICC Trophy The 2005 ICC Trophy was a cricket tournament held in Ireland between 1 July and 13 July 2005. It was an international one-day tournament played over 50 overs per side between 12 Associate Members of the International Cricket Council. It served a ...

.Africa qualifying
2005 ICC Trophy official website In August 2006, Nigeria took part in Division Two of the World Cricket League Africa Region in Tanzania, finishing last.WCL Africa Division Two Points Table
at CricketArchive This originally relegated them to Division Three, though they are not playing in that tournament in 2008.2008 Africa Division Three Championship
at CricketEurope They won the North West Africa Championship in 20072007 North West Africa Championship
at CricketEurope and 2008.North West Africa Championship
at CricketEurope Nigeria are played in Division Two of the World Cricket League Africa Region in 2008 and came second hence qualifying for

2009 ICC World Cricket League Division Seven The 2009 ICC World Cricket League Division Seven was a cricket tournament held in May 2009 in Guernsey. The tournament was the first stage of qualification structure for the 2015 World Cup as well as part of the wider ICC World Cricket League. ...

. They came 3rd in the tournament thus remaining in the division . In May 2011 Nigeria participated in the

2011 ICC World Cricket League Division Seven The 2011 ICC World Cricket League Division Seven was a cricket tournament took place from 1 to 8 May 2011. It formed part of the ICC World Cricket League and qualifying for the 2015 Cricket World Cup. Botswana hosted the event. Teams The teams tha ...

in Botswana. Nigeria came second in tournament this qualifying for

2011 ICC World Cricket League Division Six The 2011 ICC World Cricket League Division Six was a cricket tournament that took place from 17 to 24 September 2011. It formed part of the ICC World Cricket League and qualifying for the 2015 Cricket World Cup. The host country for this tourna ...

. Then the team went to South Africa in May 2011 to participate in 2011 ICC Africa Division Two (T20) en route to qualification of

2012 ICC World Twenty20 The 2012 ICC World Twenty20 was the fourth ICC World Twenty20 competition, an international Twenty20 cricket tournament that took place in Sri Lanka from 18 September to 7 October 2012 which was won by the West Indies. The schedule has been pos ...

. They won the tournament and qualified for 2011 ICC Africa Division One. In August 2018, they were included in the

2018 Africa T20 Cup The 2018 Africa T20 Cup was the fourth and final edition of the Africa T20 Cup, a Twenty20 cricket tournament. It was held in South Africa in September 2018, as a curtain-raiser to the 2018–19 South African domestic season. Provincial side Kwa ...

tournament.

2018–present

In April 2018, the ICC decided to grant full

Twenty20 International A Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of cricket, played between two of the international members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), in which each team faces a maximum of twenty overs. The matches have top-class status and are the ...

(T20I) status to all its members. Therefore, all

Twenty20 Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have a single innin ...

matches played between Nigeria and other ICC members since 1 January 2019 have been full T20Is. Nigeria's first T20I match was against

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

on 20 May 2019, after finishing second in the North-Western sub-region qualification group, advancing to the Regional Final of the 2018–19 ICC World Twenty20 Africa Qualifier tournament. In July 2019, the ICC suspended

Zimbabwe Cricket Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC), previously known as the Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU) until 2004, is the governing body for the sport of cricket in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe Cricket is a full member of the International Cricket Council (ICC), and administers th ...

, with the team barred from taking part in ICC events. As a result of their suspension, the ICC confirmed that Nigeria would replace them in the

2019 ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier The 2019 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier was a cricket tournament held during October and November 2019 in the United Arab Emirates to determine which teams would qualify for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament. The six teams finishing ...

tournament.

Grounds

The 2,000-capacity Tafawa Balewa Square Oval in

is the largest cricket stadium in Nigeria.

Tournament history

World Cup

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

: Not eligible – Not an ICC member *1979 to 2003: See West African cricket team *

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

to present: Did not qualify

ICC World T20 Qualifier

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

: 14th place

ICC Trophy

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

: See

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

: Did not qualify

ICC World Cricket League

*2009: 3rd place ( Division Seven) *2011: 2nd place ( Division Seven) *2011: 5th place ( Division Six) *2013: 1st place ( Division Seven) *2013: 2nd place ( Division Six) *2014: 4th place ( Division Five)

ICC World Cricket League Africa Region

*2006: 5th place (Division Two) *2011: 1st place (Division Two)(T20)

Records and Statistics

International Match Summary — Nigeria ''Last updated 9 December 2022''

Twenty20 International

* Highest team total: 221/7 v.

Eswatini Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...

on 4 December 2022 at

Rwanda Cricket Stadium Rwanda Cricket Stadium, also known as Kicukiro Oval, is a cricket ground in Kigali, Rwanda. The stadium is officially titled the Gahanga International Cricket Stadium. The ground is Rwanda's first dedicated international cricket ground and it ...

Kigali Kigali () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Rwanda. It is near the nation's geographic centre in a region of rolling hills, with a series of valleys and ridges joined by steep slopes. As a primate city, Kigali has been Rwa ...

* Highest individual score: 76, Ashmit Shreshta v.

on 4 December 2022 at

* Best individual bowling figures: 6/5,

Peter Aho Peter Aho (born 2 March 2003) is a Nigerian cricketer. In March 2019, he was part of the Nigeria national under-19 cricket team that qualified for the 2020 Under-19 Cricket World Cup. It was the first time that Nigeria had qualified for a Crick ...

on 24 October 2021 at University of Lagos Cricket Oval,

Most T20I runs for Nigeria Most T20I wickets for Nigeria T20I record versus other nations ''Records complete to T20I #1951. Last updated 9 December 2022.''

Other First Class records

Performances by Nigerian cricketers in

World Cricket League The ICC World Cricket League (WCL) was a series of international one-day cricket tournaments for national teams without Test status (i.e., teams of Associate status) administered by the International Cricket Council. All Associate Members of t ...

since 2009 Highest Scores+ Dotun Olatunji – 127 vs Ghana at BCA Oval No. 1,

Gaborone Gaborone ( , , ) is the capital and largest city of Botswana with a population of 246,325 based on the 2022 census, about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its agglomeration is home to 421,907 inhabitants at the 2011 census. Gaboron ...

on 7 April 2013 Dotun Olatunji – 125* vs Botswana at BCA Oval No. 2, Gaborone on 9 April 2013 Olajide Bejide – 106 vs Tanzania at

Royal Selangor Club The Royal Selangor Club ( ms, Kelab Di-Raja Selangor) is a social club in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, founded in 1884 by the British who ruled Malaya. The club is situated next to the ''Dataran Merdeka'', or Independence Square, ''padang'' (field), ...

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

on 13 March 2014 Segun Olayinka – 94* vs Argentina at

Grainville Grainville () is a former commune in the Eure department in northern France. On 1 January 2017, it was merged into the new commune Val d'Orger.Kinrara Academy Oval Kinrara Academy Oval was a cricket stadium located at Bandar Kinrara, Puchong, Selangor, near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Constructed in 2003, it hosted its first recorded match in 2005 when Bhutan Under-17s played Kuwait Under-17s in the Asian Cri ...

, Kuala Lumpur on 9 March 2014 Best bowling figures Oluseye Olympio – 6/23 vs Argentina at Grainville, St Saviour on 28 July 2013 Saeed Akolade – 6/27 vs Bahrain at Farmers CC,

St Martin Saint Martin may refer to: People * Saint Martin of Tours (c. 316–397), Bishop of Tours, France * Saint Martin of Braga (c. 520–580), archbishop of Bracara Augusta in Gallaecia (now Braga in Portugal) * Pope Martin I (598–655) * Saint Martin ...

on 25 July 2013 Joshua Ogunlola – 5/28 vs Botswana at BCA Oval No. 2, Gaborone on 9 April 2013 Joshua Ogunlola – 5/34 vs Germany at BCA Oval No. 2, Gaborone on 12 April 2013 Olajide Bejide – 4/20 vs Kuwait at BCA Oval No. 1, Gaborone on 8 May 2011 *Highest team total: 397/7

declared In the sport of cricket, a declaration occurs when a captain declares his team's innings closed and a forfeiture occurs when a captain chooses to forfeit an innings without batting. Declaration and forfeiture are covered in Law 15 of the ''Laws of ...

v Gold Coast, 1932. *Highest individual score: 166 by E Henshaw v

, 1982 and by B Olufawo v Ghana, 2001. *Best bowling: 7/65 by WS King v Gold Coast, 1952.

Current squad

The following list contains the 14 players in Nigeria's squad for the final round of

2018–19 ICC T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier The 2018–19 ICC T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier was the tournament played as part of qualification process for the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup. Twelve regional qualifiers were held by the International Cricket Council (ICC), with 62 teamsZambia were ...

taking place in Uganda in May, 2019. * Ademola Onikoyi * Sylvester Okpe ( c) * Joshua Ayannaike ( wk) *

Chimezie Onwuzulike Chimezie Onwuzulike (born 31 July 1987) is a Nigerian cricketer. He played in the 2014 ICC World Cricket League Division Five tournament. In April 2018, he captained Nigeria during the 2018 ICC World Twenty20 African Sub Regional Qualifier t ...

* Abioye Abiodun * Leke Oyede *

Isaac Okpe Isaac Okpe (born 7 June 1995) is a Nigerian cricketer. In April 2018, he was part of Nigeria's squad in the North-Western group of the 2018–19 ICC World Twenty20 Africa Qualifier tournament. In September 2018, he was named in Nigeria's squad f ...

* Rasheed Abolarin * Daniel Ajekun * Vincent Adewoye * Mojeed Adiamo * Isaac Danladi *

Chima Akachukwu Chima Akachukwu (born 28 May 2000) is a Nigerian cricketer. He played in the 2016 ICC World Cricket League Division Five tournament, making his debut for the Nigeria national cricket team, national team at the age of 15. In May 2019, he was nam ...

Mohameed Taiwo Mohameed Taiwo (born 3 June 2002) is a Nigerian cricketer. In April 2018, he was the joint-leading wicket-taker in the North-Western group of the 2018–19 ICC World Twenty20 Africa Qualifier tournament, with nine dismissals in five matches. In ...

* Ovais Yousof

Players

The following players have represented Nigeria internationally and also played

first-class cricket First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...

: * Henry Savory – played for

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

in 1937. * Richard Parkhouse – played for

Glamorgan , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...

in 1939. *

Geoffrey Anson Geoffrey Frank Anson (8 October 1922 – 4 December 1977) was an English cricketer and civil servant.Ge ...

– played for

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

and

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

in 1947. *

Robert Melsome Brigadier Robert George William Melsome MBE (16 January 1906 – 3 November 1991) was a senior British Army officer and English cricketer. He saw active service during the Second World War, but spent much of the war as a prisoner of war in Germa ...