The Chairman of Oyo State Cricket Association Okon Ukpong has said that the Energy and Mineral Resource under 19 cricket tournament has served off at the cricket oval of the Obafemi Awolowo stadium, Ibadan, Oyo State.
Ukpong, formerly the Zonal Coordinator of the south west zone and board member of the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF) stated that all the six states of the zones including Lagos, Oyo, Ondo, Ekiti, Ogun and Osun state are featuring in the competition which began on April 14,2026 with a seminar where all the officials of the participants were engaged in activities which can enhance the growth of cricket in the zone and Nigeria as a whole.
He explained that the competition which ends on Saturday April 18,2026 is geared towards talent identification and harnessing adding that various prize money which would be determined by the sponsor would be given to players and teams which excelled at the tournament.
While lamenting the obvious lapses seen in some cricket players and teams, he posited that the seminar which was a preliminary part of the week long competition would be used to correct these noting that the competition is a win win tournament for all the participants.
Ukpong said further that the competition is also being organized as a part way to development pointing out that already teams had engaged themselves on Wednesday which saw Ogun state defeating Osun state by 72 runs in the first match of the day just as Oyo would later play Ondo state in the second match of the day.
He observed that the competition also served as a tournament where some national team players were using to hone their skill while others are using it to improve upon their talent.
