SAN FRANCISCO, November 29, (THEWILL) – Asanka Gurusinha, the hard-hitting left-handed batsman who was part of the Sri Lankan World Cup-winning team of 1996, had been appointed Nigeria’s head coach and high-performance manager, it has been announced.
In this role, which begins next month, Gurusinha will lead the Nigeria Cricket Federation’s high-performance unit while also acting as coach, trainer and mentor to the country’s rapidly growing number of domestic coaches.
The 54-year-old, who also is Australian, has spent many of his recent years in Australia but had an 11-year international career, playing 41 Tests and 147 One Day Internationals for Sri Lanka. The highlights of his playing career include a crucial 65 runs scored in the final against Australia at Lahore in 1996.
Cricket has been played in Nigeria since the late 19th century. The national team played their first match in 1904, when a team representing the Lagos Colony played the Gold Coast Colony.
Today, the team nicknamed “The Yellow Greens” is captained by Ademola Onikoyi and the Nigeria Cricket Association has been an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) since 2002.
In the last 3 years, the successes recorded have seen Nigeria’s national teams play at the highest level in world Cricket. The most famous being participation at the ICC Under-19 World Cup in 2020 in South Africa, the senior men’s Twennty20 World Cup qualifier of 2019 in the UAE and the national women’s team World Cup qualifier in Zimbabwe also in 2019.
To continuously improve and maintain the standard of the team’s performance at elite level, the Federation took the bold step of hiring the services of a foreign coach of international repute and qualification with proven track record at the highest levels.
This became imperative as Nigeria seeks to compete at more international tournaments in the near future and also improve her performance in World Cricket rankings.
Yahaya Adam Ukwenya, President of the Nigeria Cricket Federation, in his reaction to the appointment, described the move as timely, purpose-driven and supported by the Honorable Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare.
“The appointment of Asanka marks another milestone in this administration’s desire to raise the standard of the game in the country both at the elite and development level. Internally, his appointment will greatly impart on our development structure as we look to begin our Accelerated Growth Program.
“On the big stage, Nigeria can no longer take a passing interest in World Cricket, we should be able to compete at all levels we play and not just make up the numbers.”
The head coach will be officially unveiled on Tuesday, December 8, at the VIP Lounge, National Stadium, Abuja. Officials of the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, officials of the Federation, media, players and guests are expected to be in attendance.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
