Siales to participate in the Cricket Australia u19 female national championship

·         Cricket Australia and PacificAus Sports support Cricket PNG’s participation in the 2023-2024 Cricket Australia U19 Female National Championship

·         Cricket PNG team and coaching staff finalized for the event.

Cricket PNG has accepted Cricket Australia’s invitation to take part in their Under 19 National Championship and will head to Brisbane in early December with support from the Australian Government’s PacificAus Sports program.

A combined team of seven Under 19 and seven Under 23 women will depart for Brisbane on 6th December 2023 for training and practice matches, with the competition starting from 14th December. The team will play a series of T20 matches against Australian States, and this will be followed in the last two rounds with 50-Over matches and then the finals on Thursday 21st December 2023.

This tour to Australia is part of wider support that PNG Cricket receive through PacificAus Sports, which develops pathways for Pacific teams and athletes to compete in elite competitions and access high performance coaching in Australia and internationally. The program promotes greater inclusion of women and girls in sport in the Pacific, and further strengthens Australia and the Pacific’s close regional ties through a shared love of sport.

Cricket PNG’s CEO, Richard Done, said, “This is a great opportunity for our up-and-coming future Kumul Petroleum Lewas to gain experience against the best Under 19 players throughout Australia, and will be an invaluable part of their learning curve. We want to ensure that our players experience the best opposition, and we thank Cricket Australia for providing this opportunity which is funded through the very successful PacificAus Sports program.”

Captain of PNG Siales Henao Thomas said, This is a good opportunity for young girls like us to experience and get exposure to the different levels of talent within our Age group, as we have good batters and bowlers, so we’re looking forward to the fun of playing Cricket  against Australia’s best Under 19’s and future Australian players.  

Fixtures will be published through Cricket PNG’s website (cricketpng.org.pg), traditional press, and social media.

Cricket PNG congratulates the players selected for Cricket PNG Siales:

1. Henao THOMAS (capt.)

2. Dika LOHIA (v-capt.)

3. Boio VARE

4. Brenda ELLY

5. Buruka VICKY

6. Duna ALEX

7. Erani POKANA

8. Esther VAGI

9. Gabe THOMAS

10. Initia VAGI

11. Kevau FRANK

12. Kila Rajadurai LAKSHMI

13. Mahuta JAYPHERT

14. Margaret WARI

The coaching and support staff for this training camp and event are:

1. Coaching Director – Tatenda TAIBU

2. Coach – Mahuru DAI

3. Physiotherapist – Isabelle MCEWEN

4. Team Manager/Media Liaison – Megan TAUREKA-ANDREW

About PacificAus Sports

PacificAus Sports is an Australian Government sports diplomacy initiative developing pathways for Pacific teams and athletes to compete in elite competitions and access high performance coaching in Australia and internationally. The program partners with Australian national sports organisations to support a range of Pacific sports, including rugby league, rugby union, netball, football, AFL, cricket, and Olympic/Paralympic sports, with funding split evenly between women and men. PacificAus Sports also partners with the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) to promote Pacific sport through ABC Television’s ‘That Pacific Sports Show’ and ABC Radio’s ‘Fresh Off the Field’. For more information about PacificAus Sports and its initiatives, visit www.pacificaussports.gov.au

Match Fixture