Ngegba was in the running against three footballers in R.S.C. Anderlecht’s Mustapha Bundu, A.C. Reggiana 1919’s Augustus Kargbo and Hebei China Fortune’s Mohamed Buya Turay; two national team volleyball players in Ishmael Bangura and Ibrahim Jon Kamara and national football team coach John Keister.

Sierra Leone women’s team captain Linda Bull was nominated for Best Sports Woman of the year, however, it was Sierra Leone women’s volleyball team captain Francess Lamin that won the award.

2021 promises to be an exciting time for Ngegba and the rest of the Sierra Leone U19 team as the team will be looking to qualify for the U19 Cricket World Cup. The team will first face the hosts Tanzania along with Botswana, Kenya, Mozambique, Rwanda in the U19 ICC U19 Cricket World Cup Africa Qualifiers division two tournament in June 2021. If the team finish in the top two, they will then move onto ICC U19 Cricket World Cup Africa Qualifiers finals where they would join Namibia, Nigeria and Uganda during September 2021.  

Malaysia announces million-dollar sponsorship to help grassroots cricket

The Malaysian Cricket Association is set to receive MYR 4.6 million (USD 1.12 million) over three years in a new sponsorship announced on Christmas Eve. This follows the recent news of the MCA’s President Mahinda Vallipuram being re-elected for a third two-year term as an Associate Director on the ICC Board.

The Yayasan Sime Darby sponsorship programme is targeted towards the growth of grassroots cricket, specifically within the MCA’s ‘Cricket Adiwira Programme’ and the Association’s Women’s Development Programme.

With an initial goal to roll out the 128-player-per-school programme to 458 schools in three years, the MCA has an ambitious target of expanding Adiwira Cricket to 1500 schools. The programme 'enables all children regardless of their socio-economic background to play cricket'.

The 'Girl’s Development and High-Performance Pathway Programme', will see Malaysian Cricket target the U19 and Senior Women’s team to build towards the dream of World Cup qualification and qualification for the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

The ICC Chief Executive, Manu Sawhney provided his congratulations to the MCA:

"We welcome this partnership that will fuel the growth of cricket, both in terms of early participation and the women’s game in Malaysia. We hope that this also inspires many others to join us in growing the sport even further across the world."

Vanuatu CEO Shane Deitz appointed Netherlands Women’s coach

The Dutch governing body, the KNCB, has announced the appointment of 45-year-old Australian-born Shane Deitz as the first full-time women’s coach in the country’s history. He will take up his new role on 1 March next year.

A left-handed batsman-wicketkeeper and occasional leg-spinner, Deitz played 66 first-class matches and 14 List A games for South Australia between 1999 and 2008, making 3753 first-class runs at an average of 30.76, the highest of his five centuries 154 against New South Wales at Adelaide in 2006.

Deitz had gone into coaching after his first-class playing career ended, first in Wellington and then serving as head coach of the Bangladesh women’s side in 2013-14 before moving to Vanuatu, where he had a big impact on the men’s side and became CEO in 2018. He also played for Vanuatu in World Cricket League Division 4 and Challenge League tournaments.

His appointment in succession to departing women’s coach Sean Trouw represents a significant investment by the KNCB in the Dutch women’s game.

Global Game is a collaboration between the ICC and Emerging Cricket.