Nigeria’s Female Yellow Greens Begin Camp Ahead of T20 World Cup Africa Qualifiers

Nigeria’s senior women’s cricket team, the Female Yellow Greens, have commenced a two-week training camp at the High-Performance Centre in Benin City as they intensify preparations for the 2026 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Africa Qualifiers, scheduled to take place in Namibia next month.

A total of 22 players have been called up by the Nigeria Cricket Federation for the open camp, as the team looks to finalise its squad for the Division 1 qualifiers, which will run from August 28 to September 7.

The training squad comprises standout performers from the ICC U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup earlier this year in Malaysia, in addition to seasoned players and several fresh faces.

Among those in camp are team captain Favour Eseigbe, Salome Sunday, Esther Sandy, Sarah Etim, Lucky Piety, Peculiar Agboya, Kehinde Amusa, and Victory Igbinedion. Also included are Christabel Chukwuonye, Shola Adekunle, Rachael Samson, Lillian Ude, Anointed Akhigbe, and Peace Usen.

Completing the roster are Omosigo Egunakun, Abigail Igbobie, Rukayat Abdulrasaq, Deborah Bassey, Habibat Oremeyi, Oseyande Omonkhobhio, Ayomide Abdulrasaq, and Urante Devine.

Under the guidance of head coach Leke Oyede, the Nigerian side will face tough competition in the qualifiers, taking on Zimbabwe, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, host nation Namibia, and two additional teams emerging from Division 2.

The Division 2 qualifying round is set for July 20–26 in Botswana, with the top two teams progressing to the Division 1 tournament. From there, the two best-performing sides will advance to the Global Qualifiers, which will be held later this year. The 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup is scheduled to take place in England.

Men’s Team Gears Up for World Cup Qualification Campaign

Simultaneously, Nigeria’s men’s national team, the Yellow Greens, are also holding a training camp in Lagos as they prepare for their own T20 World Cup qualifying matches.

Their qualification campaign begins in Zimbabwe between September 28 and October 4. Prior to that, the team will participate in the ILT20 Cup in Uganda from July 13 to 30 as part of their build-up.

The Yellow Greens will go head-to-head with seven other nations—Namibia, Kenya, Malawi, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and Botswana—for a place in the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, which will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka between February and March.

Nigeria earned their spot in this final qualifying stage after topping Group B of the African qualifiers last year. Only two teams from this round will secure passage to the World Cup.

While Nigeria is yet to make a senior World Cup appearance in either the men’s or women’s categories, the nation has previously qualified for both tournaments at the U-19 level, showing promising signs for the future of Nigerian cricket.