While our Cricket National teams, both Men and Women teams are doing so well with outstanding performances, milestones and achievements on the regional and international levels, they are still not getting enough attention and support, especially from the Papua New Guinea Government.
This was a concern raised by Cricket PNG Board Member, Mr. Rarua Dikana.
In an exclusive interview with PNG Haus Bung, Mr. Dikana said that, apart from Rugby League, Cricket and any other sporting codes in the country should be given support and attention from the national government.
Regardless, the sport’s main body, Cricket PNG has been the main support system and corner stone, in terms of the roles and duties they perform in maintaining, and progressing the growth and development of cricket in the country.
When comparing Cricket to Rugby League, starting from its development programs to community engagement programs, domestic and National Competitions and the general progress of the sports, cricket is not far behind rugby league.
The only difference is, rugby league has the support of key major corporate bodies in the country and the full backing of the PNG Government, while for Cricket, their main support comes from the International Cricket Council (ICC), the world cricket body.
Mr. Dikana said that, just like cricket getting their support from the International body, other sporting codes are in the same situation, getting support from their International federations or bodies.
“For Cricket in particular, the global body is very serious about growing the game outside of the more dominant countries. So, when ICC derives or generates income from TV rights or whatever funds they get out of global activities they run, the money is then spread across to the developing countries as grants. So, for cricket png, we are lucky that we have a world body who are responsible for the development of the game,” said Mr. Dikana.
He adds that the funding they receive from the world body is used to develop cricket in the country. That’s where the Board oversees the whole governance side of things, by making sure it goes to High Performance, Game Development and a small part of it for Administration. Apart from ICC funding, they also receive support through sponsorships from few corporate organizations.
However, for the past 12 to 18 months, sponsorships from corporate organizations have been hard to come by due to the tough economic situation faced by PNG at the moment. The tough economic times in the country has gone to the extreme of Cricket PNG losing a few of its corporate clients and sponsorships.
Dikana highlighted the programs that they have, especially the junior development programs, community engagements, player development, and high performance. Yet all of these is supported through the ICC grants. That includes allowances of the current players in the National Teams, U19’s and the Seniors.
“Cricket in PNG is taking more of a professional approach. You have the players coming into play, train and get paid, as motivation to improve the game. And that’s how the game has evolved. And that’s how the administration is trying to make sure this is maintained. And that’s where more support should come from corporate organizations and the government,” Dikana said.
The players that are receiving the privilege of been paid are from their Flagship programs, which are the National Teams in Garamuts, Lewas and Barramundis, including the support expatriate staffs. Those privileges come from Cricket PNG and their key valued corporate clients, in terms of sponsorships.
Dikana said that in order for the Teams to be successful, they need to have a strong domestic structure. And that’s were the national government needs to come in with their support to fill in those loop holes for the growth and development of the game in the country.
“At the moment, most of our talents and crop of players that we get are from our affiliated associations from the coastal villages in Port Moresby, Central, Milne Bay and Popondetta. These are our main hubs where we scout our players from. But we also have other regions like the non-traditional cricket areas that cricket is operating in, especially in places like, Goroka, Mendi, Jiwaka, Hagen, Madang and West New Britain. Apart from that we would like to see our operations and influence on the game spread across the entire country,” said Dikana.
The growth and development of cricket need to move away from the more traditional coastal areas into all four regions, Islands, Highlands, Momase and Southern. In order for that, Cricket PNG has to have strong development programs, ranging from the junior pathways to the seniors as well as a strong domestic structure. And that has been the foundation of Cricket PNG.
Sadly, the national government’s assistance does not seem to be in that picture. Dikana reiterated that if only the government comes onboard and starts giving them the attention that cricket deserves, only then, we can see the growth of the game, whereas, we can also focus on building the skills and capacity of the current group of elite players we have in country, by having them take part in regional and overseas domestic and national competitions.
“There are lots of opportunities out there in the sporting code of cricket. On that note, cricket have existed in the country for well over 5o years and we have done so much not only on the cricket field but off the field as well. Our development programs have made a huge impact to communities involve in the sport, not to mention, the positive impact it’s had on our young children, our youths and our women and girls.”
“We’ve being participating in regional and global events. We’ve won numerous awards, individually and as a national team. We’ve carried our national flag with pride for many years now, and while the regional and global communities recognize us, we are hoping our government recognizes also what we are doing or what we have achieved over the years,” stressed Dikana.
Mr. Dikana has made these bold comments directed towards the PNG Government, as our National Men and Women’s teams are stepping up in their preparations to book their spot in the T20 World Cup event. For the other format of the game, PNG has lost our ODI (One-Day-International) Status a few years back, losing a big chunk of funding from the Global body, ICC.
It is now up to Cricket PNG to ensure that the development programs are ongoing and the standards of the Flagship teams (Barramundis, Lewas, Garamuts) are maintained at the international standards, to continue to receive funding from International Cricket Council (ICC). The funding that comes from ICC is through a performance rewarding system. If a country loses its rankings in a particular format of the sport or is not doing well, they lose their status and funding is cut.
Now is the time where the National Government’s intervention and support is very critical for Cricket PNG. As cricket in the country is growing and moving rapidly on the regional and international stage, it is their concern that cricket and every other sporting codes and sporting bodies are receiving their fair share of support to the greater good of the sport.
