Nigeria A

Sylvester Okpe captains the senior Nigeria side, and the A squad exists to feed it. The Nigeria Cricket Federation puts the team together when it needs one, usually from the Under-19 setup and from players who have not yet broken into the national XI. It carries the same green and yellow and the same nickname, the Yellow Greens, as the senior team.

The pool it draws on has a long history. On 25 May 1904 the Lagos Colony beat the Gold Coast Colony, now Ghana, by 22 runs. That is the earliest international match on Nigeria's record, and it began a rivalry that has run ever since. A colonial association followed in 1932 and an indigenous one in 1933. The two merged in 1957, and Nigeria became an ICC Associate Member in 2002.

The A players train and play in Lagos, mainly at the Tafawa Balewa Square Oval, which holds about 2,000 and is the country's frontline cricket ground. The University of Lagos oval, of similar size, is the other regular venue. The hosts' record against Sierra Leone is one-sided: 13 wins in 14 Twenty20 internationals. Ghana have a longer claim on Nigeria's attention than that, and the two have met since 1904.

The players who have set the standards for the A squad are on the senior side's record. Selim Salau made the highest individual score for Nigeria, 112. Isaac Okpe has taken more T20I wickets than anyone else.

The Nigeria T20 Quadrangular Series opens in Lagos on 21 September 2026 and runs to 27 September. The senior team, Ghana and Sierra Leone are all in the field. For Nigeria it is preparation for the 2028 T20 World Cup qualifiers.