In a remarkable display of cricketing prowess, Nigeria dominated the 2024 Middle Stump Cricket Awards, winning all 13 available awards. The event, held at the Cricket Lab of the Tafawa Balewa Square Oval in Lagos, celebrated cricketing excellence across Africa and highlighted Nigeria’s extraordinary achievements over the past year.
The Nigerian cricket team had a stellar year, clinching a historic bronze medal at the African Games in Ghana and qualifying for the 2025 ICC Women’s U-19 World Cup in Malaysia. The head coach of Nigeria’s women’s national cricket team, Leke Oyede, was awarded Coach of The Year for leading the Female Yellow Greens to their historic bronze medal win. Oyede triumphed over other notable coaches, including Uganda’s Jackson Owang, Cathy McComb of Malawi, and Nigeria’s U-19 women’s coach Sarah Bhakitha.
The Junior Female Yellow Greens were recognized for their outstanding performance, winning the Best Cricketing Moment in Africa for securing Africa’s ticket to the U-19 Women’s World Cup in Malaysia. This achievement surpassed their senior colleagues’ African Games bronze medal feat and Uganda’s qualification for the 2024 T20 World Cup.
The Edo State Cricket Association was honored with the Best Grassroots Development Program award for 2024, beating out strong contenders such as Soroti Cricket Academy (Uganda), Cricket Builds Hope (Rwanda), Northern Cosmopolitan Cricket Club (Nigeria), PETS Foundation (Nigeria), and Abinu Kondotti Foundation (Nigeria). Okechukwu Onwudiwe of the Northern Cosmopolitan Academy received the award for Individual Contribution to Grassroots Development in Africa.
Nigerian umpires Tope Onikoyi and Dahiru Enesi were both voted the male and female Umpires of The Year, respectively. In the players’ categories, Piety Lucky, captain of the Malaysia 2025 World Cup-bound women’s U-19 team, was named Nigeria Women’s Player of The Year, while Yellow Greens left-handed batsman Isaac Danladi was voted Men’s Player of The Year. The men’s and women’s Young Player of The Year awards went to Peculiar Agboya and former Junior Yellow Greens captain Ridwan Abdulkareem, respectively. Ene Odang was recognized as Administrator of The Year.
Former NCF president Kwesi Sagoe received a Lifetime Service Award, and Funmilayo Omoniyi was voted Fan’s Fan of the Year, rounding off a night of celebration for Nigerian cricket.
