Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF) have announced that the national Men’s championship will take place from 19th March to 31st March 2021 in Benin City, Edo State.
States selected to participate in this tournament is drawn from previous tournament rankings and the same qualification/elimination process of the National Sports Festival where only teams that qualified in 1st position from the various zones have automatic qualification.
7 teams (Edo State (Host), Lagos State, Kaduna State, Kwara State, Delta State, Anambra State and Oyo State) have been chosen to take part in the championship, with play-off matches scheduled between Rivers, Ogun and Ebonyi States in Port Harcourt to determine the final qualifying team in the competition.
The Group stages of the tournament will be played in the T20 format, while the semi-finals and Finals will be staged in the 50-overs format. Pool A comprises of Edo, Lagos, Anambra and the Play-off event winners, while Pool B consists of Kaduna, Oyo, Delta and Kwara.
Men’s National Championships Schedule
Qualifying Play-offs – 19th & 20th of March, 2021 – Winners head for Benin City to compete in Pool A.
Pool A – 22nd – 24th March, 2021 – Top two teams in the group at the end of the league stages stay on while bottom two departs tournament on the 30th of March.
Pool B – 25th March – 27th April, 2021 – Top two teams in the group at the end of the league stages stay on while bottom two departs tournament on the 02nd of April.
Semi-Finals – 29th and 30th March, 2021
Finals – 31st March, 2021
