Nigeria’s senior women’s cricket team, the Female Yellow Greens, have received a significant boost to their preparations for the upcoming 2026 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Africa Qualifiers with the addition of two foreign coaches from Zimbabwe.
The team, under the guidance of head coach Leke Oyede, is currently in a closed camp in Lagos, where training has intensified ahead of the crucial qualifiers scheduled to take place in Namibia from August 28 to September 7, 2025.
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Coach Oyede confirmed that the Nigerian Cricket Federation (NCF) has brought in technical assistance from Zimbabwe and will also welcome a South African coach in the coming days. These additions are expected to enhance the team’s skillset and overall performance level.
“We are with 18 players and the goal is to pick 15 players for the World Cup qualifiers,” Oyede told NCF Media on Thursday.
“We have been working so hard, and it has been quite intense with the support of two Zimbabwean coaches. A South African coach will join us in a few days. The whole idea is to uplift the girls’ skills and brush them up so they can perform at the top level,” he added.
The team initially began training last month in Benin City, Edo State, with 22 players. Four players were subsequently dropped as the squad moved into its final phase of preparation in Lagos.
Oyede also revealed that the team will engage in a series of test matches during the camp to boost tactical awareness and match readiness.
“These test games are to awaken their game awareness and keep them in that frame of readiness so we can make the global qualifiers. There is a lot of positivity, and that’s a good sign for us as coaches,” he noted.
Nigeria will compete in the Africa Qualifiers against Zimbabwe, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia, Rwanda, and Sierra Leone. The top two teams from the event will progress to the global qualifiers set for later in the year.
The 2026 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup will be hosted by England.
