Online ReporterBrandon Moyo
ZImpapers Sports Hub
FORMER Chevrons coach Steve Mangongo believes the strong relationship between Zimbabwe and Nigeria can play a key role in growing cricket in the West African nation.
This follows his appointment as head coach of the Nigeria national team and manager of the country’s high-performance programme.
Speaking to Zimpapers Sports Hub, Mangongo said the Nigeria Cricket Federation (NCF) and Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) share strong ties.
He foresees Nigeria benefiting from player exchange programmes, as well as umpiring and coaching development initiatives.
The decorated coach added that he wants to build a team that plays a fearless brand of cricket.
“Nigeria has excellent relations with Zimbabwe Cricket and I see Nigeria benefiting from player exchange programmes, age group cricket and training of coaches and umpires.
“I want to try and instil a culture of tough cricket, a team which fights with ball or bat and plays fearless brand of exciting cricket.
“Top order batting requires serious skills sets and so does genuine fast bowling.
“These two areas will be a priority in order to set challenging totals to win games.
“Fast bowlers are critical in striking especially with the new ball early in the innings.”
Mangongo, who has been instrumental in the development of cricket in Zimbabwe from age-group level up to the senior team, said Nigeria has all the necessary ingredients to grow the game.
He said he was impressed by the level of interest in cricket among the youths in Africa’s most populous nation.
Mangongo also believes that grassroots structures and the high-performance programme will form the foundation for building a formidable cricket culture.
“Cricket must grow in Africa and Nigeria has ingredients necessary to see the expansion of cricket.
“I was involved during the formative years of Uganda cricket into semi-professional and I see rapid growth in Nigeria as many youths have shown interest there.
“Grassroots is the foundation, it creates the sustainability of cricket, therefore, from a High Performance perspective, I would like to see Nigeria taking the next step, apart from a job well done to create mass participation in most states.
“Nigeria needs to start robust age-group competitions from Under-11 up to Under-17 so that the talented boys and girls can get specialised training in early age groups,” he said.
Mangongo replaced Kenyan coach Steve Tikolo, who held the role for more than three years, between October 2022 and January 2026.
His appointment ends the NCF’s four-month search for Tikolo’s replacement as Nigeria prepares to compete in the ICC 2028 T20 World Cup qualifiers later this year.
Bongani Ndlovu