The Sierra Leone Cricket Association SLCA has partnered with neighboring Liberia to coordinate the development of cricket in both countries and encourage Liberians to start playing the game.

The two nations signed an agreement in which the SLCA will provide coaching and other resource assistance to the Liberians.

According to the SLCA development officer, Emmanuel Pessima, the two nations agreed "to coordinate cricket development activities" and encourage other countries in the Mano River Union - Guinea and Ivory Coast - to develop the sport programmes.

Pessima said: "Under the agreement, the SLCA will provide coaching and other resource assistance to Liberia including umpiring and groundmanship. We will also advise Liberians on how to produce cricket equipment and introduce the Liberian cricket team to other cricket-playing nations in Africa."

The signed Memorandum of Understanding also calls for the "convening of biennial and annual conferences on a rotational basis and the launching of cricket series to be hosted rotationally for the Mano River Union trophy."

Sierra Leone has played in international tournaments with English-speaking countries in the sub-region as well as with Kenya, Namibia, Zambia and Tanzania but Liberia is not a traditional cricketing nation.