Tragically, Nosaina lost his father Mr. Ricky Pokana last week. Nosaina’s father was a major influence in his life, a talented allrounder, playing for Team Kempa.
He was proud of his son, and Nosaina is staying with the Kumul Petroleum PNG Barramundis, to complete the dream his father had for him, playing in the T20 World Cup for PNG.
‘Cricket’s got me to see life in a different perspective. Going out seeing the world, your way of thinking starts to change and you start thinking outside the box.’
Opening bowler, Nosaina is set for their games in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. With preparation for the Kumul Petroleum PNG Barramundis nearing completion, it now comes down to just trusting in the process.
Training also includes a good healthy diet so that’s what he’s following too. ‘I’m just taking in the good stuff,’ he says. But if he could have a cheat meal it would unquestionably be crispy fried chicken & chips.
For him, he says it would be a big accomplishment if the Barras win a match against a full member.
‘Beating one of those big giants like Australia, New Zealand or West Indies. It’d be good to beat one of those teams and test yourself against the best players.’
Having played cricket for over a decade, the 25-year-old says his family played cricket mostly in local tournaments and so for him he doesn’t look far for inspiration.
‘My role model is our skipper, Assad. I’ve learnt a lot from him and I just admire how he goes about his business.’
For the young Rigo lad, he knows what it takes to be part of an international men’s team. So his valuable piece of encouragement is stated plainly: hard work and commitment.
‘If you want to achieve your goals, you firstly need to be disciplined in ways that you commit yourself to what you want to achieve. It starts with commitment then hard work, work ethics, etc come in.’
Nosaina is optimistic about his team’s performance in the World Cup. ‘I’m just really proud and happy of how far the team has come and all the hard work we’ve put in, in the last two years. It’s all about believing in ourselves and trusting the work we’ve put in. The only thing left is to believe.’