Crisis looms in cricket league

The Club Cricket Committee[CCC], organisers of Nigeria's only recognised senior cricket league, had on Tuesday decreed via a letter sent to management of clubs in the first division, that clubs would have to carry over points garnered during the regular season to the Super Four event.

It will be recalled that until a couple of seasons back, winners of the CCC elite division were determined at the end of the regular season.

The desire to make the league more competitive had informed the introduction of the Super Four competition.

The Super Four features the first four finishers in the six-team league,and these four engage themselves in another round-robin of matches culminating in the top two finishers playing in the final.

Howzat Pioneers beat highly favoured Foundation Cricket Club [FCC] to win the first division title in 2003.

And after 10 rounds of matches of the regular season in 2004, FCC has emerged winners with 307 points. Cosmopolitan [271 points], Government College Ibadan Old Boys [207 points] and Pioneers [151 points] finished second, third and fourth respectively, to join FCC in the Super Four.

Not surprisingly, Olisa Egwuatu, Coach cum player with the Pioneers has described the new rule as self-serving, unconstitutional and destabilising.

"You don't change the rule of a competition right in the middle of a game,” he told nigeriasports.com.

"Why is it that the CCC is just coming up with this kind of rule when we have already concluded the regular season? Now it shows that some people are using their position to influence who wins what in the league."

He averred that the new rule might have been initiated by leadership of the CCC, mostly comprised of FCC financiers, to favour the team which wonb the regular season.

Said him:"It is very clear to everybody that with this new rule,FCC only have to amass some points in the Super Four to win the league,they need just little more to add to the 307 won in the regular season.This is unfair,we are not going to accept it.

"How do you accept to participate in a competition in which the winner had already been determined? They should just go ahead and give the cup to the FCC instead of wasting the time and resources of other clubs."

Attempts at getting the reaction of Kwesi Sagoe, the CCC Chairman on the development proved abortive. He ignored calls made to him by nigeriasports.com.

By Dipo Okubanjo