Sierra Leone has commenced construction of four new international standard cricket grounds in Sussex, a picturesque coastal village near the capital city, Freetown.
The move is aimed at establishing another genuine cricket hub in the region, after the recent rise of Nigeria.
Francis Samura, the Chairman of Sierra Leone Cricket Association (SLCA), joined Emerging Cricket to share this exciting news and discuss the nation’s impressive climb up the ICC Associate Scorecard rankings.
New Grounds and Cricket’s Rising Profile
According to Samura, the development of the cricket grounds has been made possible by the sport’s increasing profile in the country. This comes on the back of two main factors; cricket’s inclusion in the Olympics and the tireless work and lobbying done by the SLCA to the government.
“When we became members of the national Olympic committee and the Commonwealth Games Association, instantly we attracted funding from the national Olympic committee,” Samura said.
“As long as there is a proper qualifying pathway to the Olympics for Sierra Leone, the government will support our qualification games with funding, whether we qualify or not.”
In a country where Football dominates every sporting conversation and attracts around 90% to 95% of the total budget allocation for sports, the donation of 29.2 hectares of land at Sussex for cricket development by the government looms as a massive game-changer for the sport.
“We are so thankful and appreciative, as the land purchase alone would have cost over $1.5 million dollars,” Samura continued.
While construction has already begun, the board is currently working hard to raise additional funds to ensure that the project can meet all deadlines. Upon completion, the plot of land will be home to four international standard cricket grounds.
“We are looking forward to development partners and sponsors to support us in constructing the facility in Sussex, which is a touristic area,” said the Chairman.
“We will construct a cricket academy on it and state of the art indoor training facilities. We also intend to build around 40 outdoor cricket nets, so that the entire facility will be capable of hosting any ICC event, apart from World Cups.”
SLCA is working to a five-year project timeline, the first phase of which involves the construction of the first two grounds. These are expected to be ready by the end of 2027, alongside the outdoor training facilities. And by 2030, the hope is they complete the final two grounds along with the indoor training facility. Work on the cricket academy will follow hereafter.
Sports Tourism
While the project is an ambitious undertaking, Samura has grander visions for the future. Similarly to Bhutan, he wants to use the finished facility to drive cricket tourism to the West African nation of 8.4 million people. A country which is finally at peace and held its fifth general election in 2023, after a brutal 11-year-long civil war (1991-2002) had torn it apart two decades earlier.
“We want to build furnished apartment buildings nearby which will host players from visiting teams. We are also interested in developing the area for tourism, as the land contains a fantastic beach. The completed project will boost and transform Sierra Leone cricket, because conference halls, rooms for workshops, seminars and events will also be available. We can then use the proceeds from this investment to maintain the facilities and reinvest back into domestic cricket,” he states.
Additionally, there are other notable cricket infrastructure projects taking place concurrently. Construction has begun on a 17.7-hectare parcel of land, graciously donated to SLCA by the Fourah Bay College administration. A public-private partnership, this initiative will deliver two new cricket ovals adjacent to downtown Freetown and is scheduled for completion by 2027.
Climbing the ICC Associate Scorecard
Cricket was first introduced in Sierra Leone in 1898 by the British Royal Artillery with the inaugural match taking place at the central ground in Freetown. SLCA itself was founded on 15th November 1942; but only gained ICC membership status in 2001.
Currently, the global governing body uses a performance-based scorecard tool to guide how annual income from broadcast deals are distributed to Associate members like Sierra Leone. In theory, it’s a merit-based system. But in reality, it reveals a stark imbalance.
BCCI, the commercial powerhouse of world cricket, walks away with the largest slice of the pie (38.5% of the annual US$ 600 million) in the new revamped four-year revenue distribution model. After further distributions to other Full Members are made, it ultimately leaves only US$67.5 million to be shared amongst the 96 Associates.
“This is why doing well on the ICC scorecard measure against the various criterion is so important for members like us,” declares Samura. “We have had tremendous success in recent years, going up the scorecard rankings from 52 in 2021 to 36 last year and finally to 17 in 2025.”
The secret to their success? According to the Chairman, it’s all about establishing proper domestic cricket structures.
“Through our grassroots cricket development programs, we have been able to increase the number of umpires and coaches. We have trained teachers, who can then teach entry level programs to students. Especially since our investment in schools’ cricket, the number of teams has increased dramatically.”
SLCA now organises a multitude of competitions for all age levels, including U19 men’s and women’s leagues, plus inter-secondary and intervarsity competitions.
“During school holidays, we reach out to those young kids to keep them engaged. We organise inter-area boys’ competitions at U12, U13 and U15 age group levels. Additionally, we have two 50 over leagues for senior and youth men, as well as modified competitions like softball cricket and Criiio,” he says.
With 10,000 participants playing cricket in some form currently, Samura estimates cricket to be the third most popular sport in Sierra Leone after Football and Athletics.
Final Thoughts
A qualified coach and an umpire, Samura became involved with the sport from the age of six, courtesy of his upbringing in sports mad Kingtom. Growing up, he played school cricket and was vice-captain at the Sierra Leone Police Cricket Club. He made his first foray into cricket administration in 2007, before climbing up the ladder to become Chief Executive Officer in 2012 and Chairman in 2021.
“During my CEO stint from 2012 to 2021, I was serving in a voluntary role where I donated my salary back to the association. I was working for free,” Samura laughed.
The Chairman is a passionate advocate for the sport and has set the board a goal to grow cricket participation numbers to 800,000 by 2030.
“For the board, that is the topmost priority, along with getting more girls and women involved as players, umpires, coaches and event managers. I would love to see cricket become part of the culture for the majority of Sierra Leoneans and considered as a national sport of winners.”
Samura is also keenly aware of the importance of future financial sustainability and implementing strong governance structures.
“Our goal is to create domestic cricket content to attract fans, not just in Sierra Leone but globally. Once these fans are engaged and we improve our governance structures, it is easier to attract funding from sponsors and development partners, which will help create those alternative revenue streams.”
“We want to be in a strong financial situation, to help finance our domestic competitions and grassroots programs. That will enable us to assemble stronger squads and play competitively at a subregional, regional and global stage.”
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