November 5, 2021
For massive progress in expanding the base of the game, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has promoted Sierra Leone to category B in the ICC Africa Development Scorecard.
This revelation was made by the ICC Development Officer for Africa, Justine Ligyaligi at the ongoing ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Africa Sub-Regional Group B Qualifiers in Kigali, Rwanda.
Justine says every member nation has a scorecard ICC uses to measure their success in terms of growing the game with respect to competitions, modified cricket, umpiring, scoring, securing non- ICC income, among others.
“In Africa, we group our members into categories A, B and C based on the amount of development work done on the ground. We look at this to determine what kind of intervention we prioritize. Sierra Leone is being measured based on what they have done on ground in comparison to what other countries have done.”
We put fact together and rank members annually based on performance. This ranking determines how much you get from the development grant,” he explains.
Sierra Leone is in Category B along with Tanzania, Botswana, Ghana and Malawi for the years 2021 and 2022 since it is a work in progress.
According Justine, Sierra Leone fell off the ranking scale in 2017 and 2018 but began the recovery process in 2019 and 2020. “The development you have embarked on over the years has earned you this new place. You must work hard to keep going because countries lagging behind are working hard to achieve same. We hope to work closer with Sierra Leone as things are getting better and better. We shall be visiting the country periodically to see what is happening on the ground and to meet with stakeholders,” he adds.
On another framework to bolster financial progress, Justine says Sierra Leone is far from attracting funds from the competition grant since such a grant ideally looks at a nation’s output in terms of competing and qualifying for major ICC Tournaments. “To get the competition grant you must be able to see your senior men’s team, your Under-19 male team, your Under-19 female team, and your women’s team qualifying for the African finals in ICC Tournaments. This can get you started with additional one hundred and fifty thousand dollars per annum,” he concludes.
Meanwhile, the Sierra Leone Cricket Association has formulated a growth strategy that spans from 2019 to 2023, specifically targeting a sustainable nationwide grassroots development programme with the aim of involving ten percent of the Sierra Leonean population in cricket by 2029. The projection is to have eight hundred thousand Sierra Leoneans involved in cricket, playing, officiating, managing, administrating, umpiring, and scoring.
For the ongoing Group B Qualifier, Sierra Leone lost to Tanzania by eight wickets on Wednesday. the Men’s Patriots won the toss and elected to bat first, scoring 99 runs for the loss of eight wickets in 20 overs, leaving Tanzania with a target of 100. The rivals hit overboard the target scoring 104 runs for two wickets in 10.5 overs, sparing 55 balls.
Tanzania is currently leading Group B having four points with a massive net run rate of 4.872. Botswana is closely behind followed by Mozambique.
Sierra Leone will face Mozambique for its third match on Friday and will end its run on Sunday against Cameroon.