Calabar, the ancient port city of Southern Nigeria has again been caught up in a ravaging Cricket wildfire that attracted the attention of the founding President of Calabar Cricket Club, Sir Emmanuel O’Neill.
Sir O’Neill has played the gentleman’s game from 1973 to 1981 in a competitive capacity for Cross River State. The former team Vice Captain and wicketkeeper had played cricket for Hope Waddell Training Institute, Cross River State Intermediate and Senior teams.
The President of Calabar Cricket Club was recently attracted to the game when he saw pictures of kids playing cricket at the revived Hope Wadell cricket pitch. Sir O’Neill’s passion for cricket has since kept him beside the budding team for three consecutive weekends where he assists with technical input and motivational talks with the players during training.
“I would want to say they are doing very well for the state in which they have found themselves. They are a very young team, about two or three months old in training. They have the drive that is why I go there to give them a pep talk, kick their butt and jump on their heads. In a short while, they’ll be coming up with something.
“Right now there is no support from the state government for cricket and you can’t expect much from that area. I think now that Mac is coming up we will see how we can support them. I’ve been engaged with them in the past three weeks.” Sir Emmanuel O’Neill responded.
Calabar is reported to be the birthplace of cricket in Nigeria since 1903 in Hope Waddell. The first match was played in 1904 between the school team and crew members of H. M. S. Thistle on 13th June 1904. Hope Waddell won by 106 to 22 runs.
Cricket has a similar history with football in Hope Wadell Training Institute as both games were introduced by Scottish missionaries in the same period.
However, for nearly four decades, Cross River State has not been in competitive cricket. Credit and thanks goes to Nigerian cricket Titan, former South-South representative and NCF Mr Uyi Akpata and Coach Mac Farlane Ejah, who nurtured the U17 team from Cross River State to play during NCF/PwC Championship in early 2021 at University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Mr. Akpata on seeing the desire and rekindled passion had donated two kits bags for the state cricket development process. The beautiful outcome has been the formation of four clubs and the begining of the league in Calabar.
Until 2017 Calabar has been famous for Asians and elites cricket players including the likes of Maurice Enoch, former Unicem Rovers FC Chairman and the majority of Hope Waddell and St. Patrick School old boys in Calabar.
While most elite players of Calabar Cricket Club are expected to groom and assist build the new cricket story of Calabar as it sometimes assisted Akwa Ibom, Sir O’Neill regretted that the club for certain reasons is in hibernation mood.
“Right now Calabar Cricket Club is at rest. This kind of thing you need people to work and to spur the others on. We had already set up the pitch in Hope Waddell. A lot of the elites players are quite busy. But we need to create enabling environment in terms of publicity, in terms of urging them to come out and do some work and play.”
