'I’m excited about Ghana’s cricket sports future' - Australian Ambassador to Ghana

Australian Ambassador to Ghana, Berenice Owen-Jones, has expressed her excitement over Ghana’s cricket sports future.

She is also confident that the sport is on the rise in Ghana given the country’s recent participation at the international tournament.

Cricket is set to make its debut in the 13th edition of the All-Africa Games to be hosted by Ghana in August 2023 following a successful dialogue between the International Cricket Council and the Local Organising Committee of the All-Africa Games.

Ghana’s Black Batters failed to qualify for the International Cricket Council (ICC) Men’s T-20 World Cup in Australia after losing to Uganda in the ACA T-20 African Cup in South Africa.

With this as a setback for Ghana, Berenice Owen-Jones believes with the right investment, Ghana can compete at the highest level of the sports.

“The fact is I can really imagine cricket as a sport for the youth [and] vibrant community of young cricket players here [in Ghana]. It’s just a matter of encouraging it in the right way.

“The fact that the All-Africa Games are going to include cricket for the first time is a perfect opportunity to raise awareness about cricket.

Another interesting development is that Ghana got selected amongst the 14 emerging cricket nations to host the T-20 World Cup, and we had people approaching it with great reverence.

“So, this illustrates that the International Cricket Council sees Ghana as having the potential as a cricket-playing nation.

“We would like to do our part in developing cricket in the country, so we are working with the Ghana Cricket Association and the Ministry of Youth and Sports

in encouraging the awareness of the sport in the country,” she said.

In February 2022, it was announced that cricket would make its debut in the 2023 13th edition of the All-Africa Games to be hosted here in Ghana.

The 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup is the eighth and will be played in Australia from 16 October to 13 November 2022.

Originally, the tournament was to be held in 2020, however, in July 2020, the International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed that the tournament had been postponed, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On 21 January 2022, the ICC announced all the fixtures for the tournament in Australia, the host nation and also the defending champions.

The Australian High Commissioner to Ghana, Her Excellency Bernice Owen-Jones spoke to Joel Acheampong yesterday, Monday, 7 November 2022