City Pharmacy PNG Lewas impress in 2018

City Pharmacy PNG Lewas had an impressive year and Lewas Head Coach, Rarua Dikana, sat down with Cricket PNG (CPNG) to look back over the year.

Former Hebou PNG Barramundis’ Captain, Dikana was appointed the City Pharmacy PNG Lewas Head Coach at the start of the year and was impressed on how the Lewas played throughout the year.

“There was only one tournament this year and I thought the girls performed exceptionally well by finishing in the top four of the tournament after playing in the semi-final against Ireland who qualified to the world cup as a result. However, we have regrouped following the tournament and have set ourselves some team standards to be successful in the future,” said Dikana.

The City Pharmacy PNG Lewas competed in the ICC WWT20 Qualifier in Netherlands from 3-14th July, 2018, where they finished in 4th place in the eight-team competition. They narrowly missed out on qualifying for the WWT20 in the West Indies after losing a hard-fought semi-final to Ireland.  

“We learnt that there is a lot of room for improvements on our skills sets and also on match awareness. Sticking together as a team will be key for us to achieve set goals as a group,” stated Dikana.

“Positive team culture will be the way forward with all players buying into the standards the team and the players will set for themselves. We are not far off as far as skills are concerned but lots of exposure and experience is vital for the team to do well against stronger teams,” said Dikana, reflecting on some of the learnings in the Netherlands.  

CPNG conducted the 2018 HEBOU Shield Women’s Competition across four days from Monday 22nd October to Sunday 28th October, featuring three teams, the best female cricketers in PNG in a T20 format with all matches played at the Home of Cricket in PNG- Amini Park. 

“Hebou Shield gave the opportunity for players to showcase their talent, especially the ones that are currently not in our program so we can have competition in selection of the Lewas team.

“We have extended our squad with a couple of new players that performed well in the Hebou Shield plus a good number of young players who have been introduced into our Lewas Academy program.”

Ravini Oa, Kaia Aru and Veru Kila Frank were selected in the inaugural ICC Women’s Global Development Squads which played a total of ten matches against ECB Super League and Women’s Big Bash Leagues in July and November in England and Australia.  

“Exposure and experience for my players is crucial due to limited opportunities this year so their time with the WGDS welcoming. Kaia (Arua) and Ravini (Oa) participated with the team in July and it was good to increase the number to three with the selection of Kila in November 2018. I know the girls learnt a lot from the experience and will be encourage to impart and share the experience with the rest of the Lewas squad,” said Dikana.  

A number of City Pharmacy PNG Lewas impressed Dikana throughout the year.

“Kaia (Arua) has conducted herself professionally both on and off the field and will be a future leader of the Lewas. Young Naoani (Vare) has shown good improvements in her abilities so she will be a future player as well,” said Dikana.

The City Pharmacy PNG Lewas have a very busy schedule next year.  

“We have a busy schedule next year with ICC EAP T/20 and WWC Qualifier being held early next year while Pacific Games in July will be another big event so will be quite busy. The focus this year was mainly on establishing good training habits and positive team cultures.

“Still long days ahead but we have gained momentum in creating a respectful environment in the team both on and off. Once we get the focus right off the field I believe we will achieve good things as a group going forward,” concluded Dikana.

Author: 
Press release