Cricket PNG Awarded Women’s ODI Status for 2025-2029 Cycle

Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea – Cricket PNG is proud to announce that it has been awarded Women’s One Day International (ODI) status for the 2025-2029 cycle, effective from May 12, 2025.

This recognition is a significant milestone for women's cricket in Papua New Guinea and demonstrates the continued growth and commitment of Cricket PNG to elevate the profile of the women’s game within PNG and see our Lewas on the global stage. “We are thrilled to have been awarded ODI status for the 2025-2029 cycle,” said Richard Done, CEO of Cricket PNG. “Over the last 12 months, we have prioritised our Lewas, sending them away to Kenya and UAE in March 2024 and again in July 2024 to The Netherlands.

We gambled on those tours paying dividends in retaining our ODI status and that has now paid off.” “It’s a great springboard to continue developing our Lewas and also aligns with our ambition to make the Olympics, either in 2028, or in our own backyard in Brisbane 2032.

This milestone is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the players, coaches, and staff involved in the women’s game here in PNG.” The announcement comes following the annual update of the ICC Women’s T20I rankings on 1 May.

Scotland and Thailand had retained their status through qualifying for the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup with the remaining positions to be filled by the next three highest ranked members. Cricket PNG retained its ODI status based on its continued strong performance of remaining 12th on that table and were joined by Koninklijke Nederlandse Cricket Bond (KNCB), and Emirates Cricket Board in this prestigious achievement.

The expansion of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup (CWC) to 10 teams in 2029 presents new opportunities for more teams to compete at the highest level. PNG Lewas captain, Brenda Tau said, ”This gives us the certainty we need to continue to grow as a team on the global stage.

We are committed to being the best we can be, and represent our country successfully.” As part of the criteria, each team with ODI status, including Cricket PNG, is required to establish domestic structures for 40+ over cricket for at least two years before the Women’s CWC in 2029.

Cricket PNG is committed to building and strengthening its domestic cricket pathways, ensuring that the women’s game continues to thrive in the country. The organization is excited for what lies ahead as it continues to build on this success, aiming to develop the next generation of talented cricketers who will represent Papua New Guinea with pride.

-ENDS-

For further information,

please contact info@cricketpng.org

About Cricket

PNG Cricket PNG (CPNG) is the National Sports Federation responsible for the governance, promotion and development of cricket in Papua New Guinea (PNG). CPNG has been an Associate Member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) since 1973 and is supported by the ICC East Asia-Pacific (EAP) regional office, and more recently the PNG Olympic Committee. CPNG currently has about 70 staff in ten (10) regions across PNG with a majority involved in driving entry-level participation through the Schools Kriket Programme and the School Kriket Programme (Malolo Hard-Ball Competition). In 2024, the School Kriket Programme reached over 129,000 students across PNG. Domestically, the Isuzu T20 Smash is our pinnacle event, supported by men’s and women’s Nationals at U19 and Senior levels. At the high-performance level internationally, our Barramundis (national men) are ranked 20th in T20 and had ODI status until early 2023, our Lewas (national women) are ranked 12th in T20 and currently have ODI status, our Garamuts (U19 boys) and Siales (U19 girls) have historically been the best performed of the ICC EAP U19 member teams.