Head coach of Nigeria’s senior women’s cricket team, Leke Oyede, has reduced his squad for the upcoming 2026 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Africa Qualifiers in Namibia.
Following a 14-day open camp in Benin City, Edo State, four players have been dropped from the initial 22-player list.
Those omitted include Deborah Bassey — the U-19 wicketkeeper who featured at the World Cup in Malaysia earlier this year — along with Habibat Oremeyi, Ayomide Abdulrasaq, and Rukayat Abdulrasaq.
With the cut made, 18 players will now proceed to a closed camping phase in Lagos, beginning Saturday, July 26. The final 15-player squad will be announced before the team departs for the tournament.
Nigeria will face tough competition in the Africa Qualifiers, including matches against Zimbabwe, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, hosts Namibia, and two teams emerging from Division 2, currently ongoing in Botswana.
That competition wraps up on July 26, with the top two teams earning promotion to Division 1.
The Africa Qualifiers are scheduled to take place from August 28 to September 7.
The top two teams from the tournament will move on to the global qualifiers later in the year.
The 2026 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup is slated to take place in England.