Windhoek — Blessed with a vast population of more than 140 million inhabitants, cricket in Nigeria might be playing second fiddle to the beautiful game of football but the sport is rapidly gaining momentum in the West African country.

The Nigerian Under-19 Cricket Eleven descended from the skies and landed at Hosea Kutako International Airport, east of the Namibian commercial capital Windhoek, last week.

The youngsters are competing in the 2010 International Council of Cricket (ICC) Africa CWCQ, underway in Windhoek where they have been experiencing mixed fortunes.

Nigeria opened their assault in the youth tournament with a three-wicket defeat at the hands of Uganda, but quickly dusted themselves off to beat fellow rookies Botswana by 2 wickets in their second match on Namibian soil.

Former South African Dolphins Academy and Boland all-rounder, Sean Phillips, has been roped in to take the youngsters through the ropes.

There has been tremendous improvement in the team after the 30-year old South African mentor took the boys to the 2007 edition of the ICC Africa Under-19 CWCQ in Benoni, near Johannesburg. Nigeria had to endure the embarrassment of returning home with the wooden spoon.

"I can only foresee a bright future for Nigerian cricket in years to come. We hope to lure about ten percent of the Nigerian population to the game of cricket because we believe there is some hidden talent lying elsewhere within the Nigerian community that can take the game to the next level," said Phillips.

"We have managed to build a very competitive side within a short period of time and hope to promote three to four cricketers from the current Under-19 team to the senior squad that plays in the World Cricket League Sevens. Interest is mounting in Nigeria simply because of DStv Supersport's live coverage of top-class international cricket."

The Nigerians were in action against Sierra Leone in their fourth match at the Wanderers sports grounds yesterday and were firmly in the driving seat to collect their second win on their Namibian safari.

Phillips hopes to become a nationalized Nigerian citizen that would enable him to be eligible for selection by the time the ICC Africa Cricket tourney gets underway in Botswana next April.