T20 World Cup: The woman leading Cameroon’s ‘Roger Milla’ generation in cricket

When Madeleine Nseke Sissako began playing cricket aged nine in Yaounde, those who poked fun at her and her team-mates drew an unlikely comparison.

“They mocked us and said we looked like Ninja Turtles,” the Cameroonian told BBC Sport Africa. “Because we were carrying sticks [and] they didn’t know what they were for.

“Many of our neighbours didn’t believe in the sport.”

Nseke Sissako has since established herself as one of the leading professional cricketers in the Central African nation.

The sport is almost a way of life for her family, with eight of the Nsekes either past or present Cameroon internationals across senior and age-grade sides.

Nseke Sissako, however, initially took some persuading about the merits of cricket from her older brother Abanda Protais.

“We were always together while we grew up,” the 29-year-old said.

“I accompanied him whenever he went out to play.

“At the beginning I didn’t really like it, but he convinced me and guided me through the basics.”

The Women’s T20 World Cup is currently taking place in England and Wales, and South Africa, runners-up at the last two editions, are the only African nation ever to appear at the tournament.

Nseke Sissako, who has been motivated by those performances, has big ambitions for cricket in her homeland – and is also taking inspiration from one of the country’s best-known footballing trailblazers.

“My motivation pushes me to make more effort.

“Certainly, we are already kind of in the Roger Milla generation of our sport domestically.”