The PNG PIH U19 Garamuts left for the West Indies yesterday, Saturday 1st January for the ICC U19 World Cup cricket tournament.
It was a big relieve for Cricket PNG to have the U19 Garamuts players and team officials given the all clear to board their flight for the U19 World Cup, after successfully completing their final PCR tests at the Jacksons International airport.
Before the team’s departure, Team Manager, Rio Fiocco said after completing a three-day bubble at the Hilton hotel, the boys were in good spirit and excited to be on the plane to Singapore, Paris and then on to St Kitts in the Caribbean.
“It’s going to be an exciting tournament seeing the boys play in the ICC U19 World Cup. This is the pinnacle of cricket for the boys which is fantastic,” he said
Fiocco said PNG is up against the big guns in the tournament, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Zimbabwe who are all member countries. He added that the boys have talents but lack experience but should give their opponents a good run around.
Prior to the actual ICC tournament opener in Trinidad, the PNG Garamuts will play two warmup matches.
When giving a brief rundown on the team’s travel itinerary, Fiocco said the team would travel via Singapore, onto Paris then to St. Martin and a charter to the nearby island of St. Kitts.
While in St. Kitts for two weeks, the team will be in quarantine for five dasys before they play a couple of practice games against United Arab Emirates and then England.