In Nigeria, Cricket has become a staple part of the country's national sports festival and now sporting authorities are considering how to grow the women's game. CGTN's Phil Ihaza explains.

Getting set for a cricket game. This team is one of the teams that featured in the just concluded Nigeria National Sports extravaganza in Abuja.

PHIL IHAZA ABUJA, NIGERIA "These female cricketers are competing officially for the first time at the National Sports Festival. With this kind of exposure, they are hopeful that they can form part of the formidable team that will make the country proud in the sport at international levels."

Cricket is not a new sport in Nigeria. The country became a member of the International Cricket Council in 2002. Until now, only the Nigeria's male team has made any significant impact. They have qualified for the 2019 ICC World Twenty20 Africa regional finals. But, the Nigeria Cricket Federation is now out to discover, develop and nurture young female talents in the sport.

TAIWO ORIS NIGERIA CRICKET SECRETARY GENERAL "We're doing a lot to develop female cricket in Nigeria. At the beginning of the year, we started with the national school female cricket initiative and we moved on to the youth game, our emphasis is on the girls because we weren't having such structure before. So all this is just working together to say that we are building a structure that will take us into a good future for female cricket in Nigeria."

And talented female cricketers are starting to emerge.

AGAZUMA SAMANTHA EDO STATE CAPTAIN "I started playing cricket in 2008 that's approximately ten years now. I play the game because I love it, I enjoy the game while playing it and my aim is to be one of the best female cricketers in Nigeria."

AYONAIKE RUTH LAGOS STATE CAPTAIN "My dream is to be one of the best in female cricketers in the world not just in the country, and most importantly to be able to develop the young female cricketers mostly in my county."

However, officials say the government will need to do more to sustain the development of female cricket in the country.

ADAMS YAHAYA NIGERIA CRICKET FEDERATION PRESIDENT "You cannot play or develop the game without having the right facilities, we should have the right administrative backing, we should be able to put up a financial structure that we can source funds from to sustain the development because we cannot be entirely dependent on grants alone."

Nigeria has been invited for the first time to feature in 2019 women's world cup qualifiers. The hope is that with better preparation and more government support, the team will excel at the tournament. Phil Ihaza, CGTN A.N.