Yesterday’s Cricket PNG annual gala dinner hosted three high profile international cricketers.
Mitchell Starc, Alyssa Healy and Dean Jones are in the country for various cricket and promotional activities.
Mitchell Starc is the current Australian left-arm fast bowler, Alyssa Healy is the current Australian women’s batswoman/wicket-keeper while Dean Jones is a former Australian Test Legend.
The trio will be in Port Moresby for a couple of days, where it is hoped that their presence will help boost the sport of cricket further.
Yesterday’s dinner was attended by sponsors of Cricket PNG as well as the Hebou PNG Barramundis and the City Pharmacy Lewas.
During the night, the trio were given an opportunity to share their experiences and insights.
Healy spoke of what it was like being the first girl to play among boys in late 2006. This was in the private schools' competition in New South Wales.
“All of a sudden someone had written a letter to the school saying it was a disgrace I was playing in the boys’ team and I should never be there and I wasn’t good enough,” she recalled.
“For me it was no different…”
The 28-year-old Gold Coast woman had tied the knot with Starc in 2016.
Starc is currently recovering from a foot injury which he sustained on the controversial South African Tour earlier this year. This resulted in him not being able to secure a spot for the Australian United Kingdom (UK) Tour.
He has played 43 Test Matches, taking 182 wickets with a healthy batting average of 21.68, 72 One Day International (ODIs) taking 141 wickets and played 22 Twenty20 International (T20Is) taking 30 wickets. Starc was a pivotal part of Australia’s Word Cup Victory in 2015, winning the Player of the Tournament Award.
Meantime, during the event, the 2018 Lewas Award was presented to Pauke Siaka for her consistent performance whilst Assad Vala was the Hebou PNG Barramundis player of the year.
(From left: Dean Jones, Alyssa Healy and Mitchell Starc)