After a season disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, this year looks promising for our Barramundis, Lewas and Garamuts.
As players, administrators and fans settle back into their respective programs, Cricket PNG cannot help but consider the possibilities that will come in 2021.
This year promises to provide plenty of opportunities for the growth and development of cricket in the nation, bookended by their first appearance at an ICC World Cup, the 2021 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in India.
Even though the previous year had its hurdles, notably the coronavirus pandemic, 2020 provided a solid platform to launch PNG cricket into the next decade!
Cricket World Cup League Two, Women’s World Cup Qualifying tournaments, and the 2020 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup may have been postponed, but everyone involved at Cricket PNG from administrators, staff, players, and volunteers have a tremendous amount to be proud of including:
BSP School Kriket Program
In July 2020, at the height of the COVID pandemic and with domestic sport suspended, there was some good news for Cricket PNG. The BSP School Kriket Program was awarded the Gray-Nicholls Participation Programme of the Year, its second, the first coming in 2010.
Barramundis Damien Ravu, Nosaina Pokana and Lega Siaka, and Lewas Kaia Arua, Brenda Tau and Vicky Ara’a all started their cricket journey with the BSP Program.
The BSP School Kriket Program aims to introduce school children to the game of cricket, with a focus on Preschool to Year 8. Beginning in 2010 in Port Moresby, NCD, the program has grown into 11 more provinces throughout the Highlands, New Guinea Islands, Momase and Southern Regions of Papua New Guinea.
The program will continue in 2021, adhering to government mandated health and safety protocols.
Success of the inaugural Men and Women’s National Cup
National Head Coach Joe Dawes said, “We attempted something different in 2020 with the introduction of 50-over and 40-over cricket for the Men and Women’s (respectively) national development programs.
With one eye firmly placed on the the qualification pathways to the Men’s 2023 ODI World Cup and Women’s 2022 ODI World Cup tournaments, the introduction of the Isuzu National Cup was a chance for the men and women to test both their physical skill set and mental apptitude leading up to their respective tournaments.
We are proud to say both tournaments were a success that we can use to build on for 2021.
So, what does 2021 have in-store for Cricket PNG, the Barramundis, Lewas and Garamuts?
BARRAMUNDIS (MEN)
The clear standout for 2021, is the Barramundis participation in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in India. Our ‘Barras’ have waited an extra 12 months but the excitement levels are still sky-high for their debut at an ICC World Cup.
Even though playing the World Cup in Australia would be just as grand, a historic debut in India, where cricket is considered a religion, can only raise pulses even higher. This does not consider the different conditions than what Head Coach Joe Dawes and the Barramundis had prepared for in Australia.
The build-up to the October tournament is just as important and exciting for cricket fans in Papua New Guinea. There are two Cricket World Cup (CWC) League Two tri-series scheduled to be played in Papua New Guinea against Scotland & Oman then Namibia and the USA in 2021. These ODI fixtures will play a vital role in preparing for the T20 World Cup, giving players time and opportunity to hone their skills with both bat and ball, and prepare to deal with the playing under pressure against high quality opposition.
Head Coach Joe Dawes said, “There is an array of experience in our opposition for these CWC fixtures, including ICC Associate Player of the Decade, Scotland’s Kyle Coetzer and the USA’s Ali Khan who has played in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), Pakistan Super League (PSL) and Indian Premier League (IPL). Most importantly, our CWC matches against Oman will be a dress rehearsal for our first match of the T20 World Cup. If we can clean sweep Oman during the series, it will give us an edge for that match on the 18 October. We know that winning early fixtures can really set us up for the tournament, so any advantage we can get over our opposition lifts our chances of going through to the next stage.”
There is plenty of cricket for the Barramundis with the Men’s 50-over Isuzu National Cup and Men’s T20 Smash tournaments.
The second edition of the Isuzu National Cup will serve as proving ground for current squad members keep practicing and honing their skills and provide an opportunity for players outside the squad to stake a claim for a spot in the T20 World Cup squad, and the squad looking ahead to the qualifying pathway for the 2023 ODI World Cup, also set for India.
Head Coach Joe Dawes said, “The more 50 over games we can play, the better the Barramundis will get at the T20 format of the game. Practicing in the nets can never really replicate match scenarios, so with our international fixtures spread out throughout the year, it becomes more important for the Barramundis to play more longer form cricket. Come August, we will play the T20 Smash tournament, as we ramp up our preparations for the T20 World Cup in October. The Barramundis and High-Performance staff will have learnt plenty from the CWC and National Cup fixtures, and this will be one of our final opportunities to finalise preparations for the World Cup squad.”
Lewas (Women)
There is plenty to look forward to in 2021 for our National Women’s team, they went so close to qualifying for their inaugural World Cup in Australia in March last year, this will drive their motivation to go one step further in 2021.
National Coach & High-Performance manager Joe Dawes believes an injection of youth and working on the Lewas strength and conditioning for the 50-over format in the lead-up to the ICC Women’s ICC World Cup Qualifier will bring success.” We are committed to achieving World Cup qualification for the Lewas. After narrowly missing out on qualification for the 2020 Women’s T20 World Cup in Australia, we reviewed our programs and have put in processes which we believe will take us to the next level. Our players and coaches are focused on realising that dream of qualification for the One Day World Cup”.
To that end, the Lewas Women’s World Cup Qualifier will be played in Sri Lanka, mid-year, against Bangladesh, Ireland, Pakistan, West Indies, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Zimbabwe, USA and the Netherlands with the top three teams then progressing to the World Cup in New Zealand.
Last year, the ICC and Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) announced that women’s T20 cricket will make a historic appearance at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, scheduled from 28 July to 8 August.
Cricket PNG CEO, Greg Campbell said, “Cricket PNG looks forward to working with the Papua New Guinea National Olympic Committee once the ICC announces the format and details for the Commonwealth Games qualifiers. A number of athletes from boxing, swimming, and weightlifting have proudly represented PNG at the Commonwealth Games, and we hope we can do the country proud as well, by qualifying for the Games. This will help put cricket on the national radar and we hope encourages young girls in the country to pick up a bat and ball and begin their journey to becoming a Lewa.”
Before the year is out, there is an East Asia Pacific (EAP) regional qualifier for the 2023 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup scheduled between 3 – 8 September in Samoa. This tournament is set to be played between Cook Islands, Fiji, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines, Samoa and Vanuatu.
Garamuts (Under 19s Men)
The fourteenth edition of the ICC Under 19 Men’s Cricket World Cup is set to be staged in the West Indies in 2022. Eleven teams, Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, West Indies, and Zimbabwe have qualified after their top 11 finish in the 2020 edition of the World Cup
As announced by the ICC, 34 teams are set to compete in five regional qualifiers, Asia, Americas, East Asia Pacific (EAP), Africa and Europe to book at ticket to the Caribbean.
The Garamuts, in the EAP qualifier, will compete against Indonesia, Vanuatu and hosts Japan between 28th of September and 4th of October.
Head Coach Joe Dawes said, “There is plenty of fantastic young talent in and around domestic cricket in PNG, and the qualifiers present an opportunity for those young men to showcase their talents and move up onto higher honours with the Barramundis. We are up against Japan, who won qualification for the 2020 edition, so we will be using them and the Barramundis debut World Cup appearance as motivation to go one step further, to seal a berth in the 2022 Under 19s Men’s World Cup.”