By: Mohamed Abu Conteh
Francis Trevor Samura was elected as Chairman Board of Directors of the Sierra Leone Cricket Association (SLCA) in June 2021 and a few months after his triumph, due to his leadership prowess, in November of the same 2021, the SLCA was promoted to Category B in the Africa Development Scorecard by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
Despite the Sierra Leone Cricket Association has been challenged with funding, especially from the government, and the political fever in the country with a few days to the June 24th, 2023 general elections, Chairman Samura continues to showcase his leadership prowess to achieve his targeted goals, ranging from the effectiveness of the leagues, winning international laurels, capacity-building, infrastructural projects and increasing women’s participation in cricket amongst others.
Over the weekend, at the Prince of Wales Oval in Kingtom, the three months Women’s T20 Premier League climaxed on a high note featuring five teams and Correctional Centre Female Cricket Club emerged as champion defeating Mid-West in the final recording a total of 6 points.
Also, the ongoing Men’s T20 Premier League has provided a platform for young cricketers to showcase their talents and has further attracted the youths in Hastings in the Western Area Rural District.
While both the Men’s and Women’s T20 Premier Leagues are gaining momentum in the Western Area, Chairman Samura continues the vision to make the discipline familiar at the grassroots level and in the provinces, a total of sixty cricket development coordinators, and coaches from the five regions across the country benefited from a one-day seminar held at the Kingtom Police Officers’ Mess on Thursday, May 11th, 2023.
Again, Francis Trevor Samura recently led a three-man delegation provincial tour and key among the reasons were to identify potential cricket sites in the provinces, and lay the foundation for the popularization of cricket in the schools, during the tour they visited several places including; Bo, Rutile, Koyeima, Magburaka, and Makeni.
Moreover, in the quest for cricket to continue to project Sierra Leone’s image on the global stage, the SLCA Chairman hired Coach Kenneth Masinga a South
African for a ten-month contract, and currently, the Senior Men’s T20 is in intensive preparation for the ACA regional T20 qualifier in Abuja.