• NCF unveils Sri Lankan as national team coach
Nigeria’s new cricket national team head coach and high performance manager, Asanka Gurusinha, has revealed that the country has enormous potential that could become world-beaters in the near future.
Gurusinha, who was unveiled to the Nigerian cricket community yesterday in Abuja by a deputy director at the Sports Ministry, Maria Whophil, is expected to build a team capable of holding their own against any opponent.
The Sri Lankan, who was picked ahead of 32 top coaches that applied for the Nigeria’s top job, said the interview session was the most thorough and rigorous since his coaching career.
He added, “I am very excited to take up this job and I am really looking forward to the best we can achieve with the level of enthusiasm, talent and support that the Nigerian Cricket Federation has.”
Earlier, Whophil, who stood in for Sports Minister, Sunday Dare, praised the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF)
for their vision and dedication to duty since they were sworn in.
“The unveiling of Asanka Gurusinha today was a tedious process, and we are glad that it came through. I want to implore all stakeholders especially sponsors, partners and supporters of the game of Cricket to rally behind the board and Asanka to make sure we make a success of this process,” She said.
NFC President, Professor Yahaya Ukwenya, explained that Gurusinha was deliberate and a key agenda of the federation’s five strategic imperatives.
“We have been promoting the game at all levels, upgrading infrastructure, engaging strategic partnerships, improving the quality of players and officials and maintaining appropriate governance and finance structures as our key goals for this administration.
“The hiring of the Head Coach is paramount to achieving at least two of those. We have five facilities that we are also upgrading side-by-side to international standard, including the one that would be used for the National Sports Festival in Benin,” he said.
Ukwenya said all the achievements both off and on the field of play are expected to rise on the heels of the expertise and professionalism that the new Head Coach Gurusinha would bring to Nigerian Cricket.
Gurusinha’s appointment as Nigeria’s Head Coach and High Performance Manager trended among the global cricket community because of the rising pedigree of Nigeria in the game and Asanka’s high profile as a top developmental coach in the game. His immediate assignment is a close camping for the top 36 players in the country who are already in Abuja.
