‘South East is reaping dividends of bottom-top approach to development ’

THE South East region will soon become the major force in Nigerian cricket if it continued with its fast paced developmental programme. The programme, which involves primary, secondary and tertiary schools, has seen such hitherto weak teams like Abia and Ebonyi, rubbing shoulders with their more advanced counterparts.

Last week, the zone concluded the South East Championship, also known as the Chuma Anosike Cup with Enugu beating Anambra to the title. The highlight of the competition, however, was Abia State’s victory over Imo State in one of the games. It was Abia State’s first win since the competition started eight years ago. Reviewing the growth of the game in the South East at the weekend, Chuma Anosike, a lawyer, who has been championing the development of cricket in the zone, said it has been able to reap from the bottom up approach it adopted in the building the sport. He added, “A few years ago when it became obvious that the game was not growing at the national level, I decided that a ‘bottom up’ approach was necessary to develop the game. I started a programme at Bishop Crowther Seminary, Awka as the focal point. With the modest success we achieved in Anambra State, I decided to spread it across the zone.

“In 2011, the first edition of the South East Tournament for the Chuma Anosike Cup was held in Owerri, Imo State. Since then, to the glory of God we have held a tournament in each of the five South East states.” He disclosed that the objectives were to develop and nurture talents who could go on to play first class cricket, spread the appeal and popularity of the game across the zone and use cricket as a tool of socio-economic development. According to Anosike, the game has grown from the three teams that featured in the inaugural edition to six teams (men) and four women’s teams that featured at the last edition.