Cricket PNG

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.

He is a veteran of the game who has coached some of the very best of Australia in a long standing career that has seen him travel far and wide.

Coyle has been working closely to help upskill the Hebou PNG Barramundis, the City Pharmacy PNG Lewas as well as the Hebou PNG U19 Garamuts.

“I came to PNG 9 years ago, when I was the coach for the Tasmania Tigers Cricket Team, I came up here with a few players, we played in a tournament and I did some coaching,” he stated.

With the aim of finding the next Assad Vala or Mahuru Dai or Ravini Oa, Cricket PNG has launched the Swire Shipping Talent ID program and with the raw talent thrown up in the latest edition of the program, the future is looking bright for Cricket in Papua New Guinea.

Cricket PNG hosted 60 youngsters from all over Papua New Guinea, right here in Port Moresby - to go through a week long camp under the watchful eye of Cricket PNG Talent ID Coach, Rodney Maha.

The sponsorship will ensure the national men’s and women’s teams continue to excel and raise the bar one level higher.

Speaking at yesterday’s cheque presentation, Managing Director of SP Brewery, Stan Joyce said Cricket PNG’s successes on the field are a result and reflection of strategic, good governance and management of the sport in a transparent and unified manner.

Speaking to the PNG media today, the newly-appointed Cricket PNG national coach opened up about his role in not only developing the Hebou PNG Barramundis, City Pharmacy PNG Lewas, Hebou PNG U19 Garamuts but also the development of cricket in PNG.

Dawes, who played first-class cricket for Queensland and Middlesex has made his career as a coach since his playing career was cut short due to a knee injury in 2005.

“But being involved with a successful Queensland setup, winning some (Shield) Shield Finals was a highlight of my career,” said Dawes.

Sailor, the former Maroons, Brisbane Broncos, St George Illawarra Dragons, Australian Kangaroos, Queensland Reds, NSW Waratahs and Australian Wallabies representative was able to drop by Amini Park to watch the Hebou PNG Barramundis, Hebou PNG U19 Garamuts and the City Pharmacy PNG Lewas go through their paces.

“We all rise as stars because of our people, our families. Learning this in my childhood days has really pushed me to be a good player and be tough to be selected. I love playing cricket, golf apart from rugby,” said Sailor.

This was formally announced in a statement by CEO of CPNG, Greg Campbell.

 “Cricket PNG would like to confirm that Dipak Patel had left his position as the Head Coach after both parties could not agree to terms with an extension to Dipak’s contract.

 “Dipak’s contract was up for renewal as he was contracted to Cricket PNG until August 25, 2017.

“There has been talk of an extension to his contract but unfortunately both could not come to an agreement. These negotiations have been ongoing since March this year,” said Campbell.

The Girls Empowerment Through (GET) Cricket program from Cricket PNG finished ahead of Hoops for Health (basketball) and League Bilong Laif (rugby league).

“Taking away the 2017 Community Sports Initiative award is a significant achievement for the Girls Empowerment Through Cricket program,” said Komang.

“This shows that the program has had social impact on the lives of our participants and also ripple effects to the wider community.

SP Brewery senior brand manager, Josh Wheeler, made the announcement of the extension under the SP Lager Brand.

The K150,000 to Cricket PNG is for the support of the two senior national cricket teams – Hebou PNG Barramundis and the City Pharmacy PNG Lewas.

Cricket PNG Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Greg Campbell, was very grateful about this announcement.  

HEBOU PNG Barramundis’ captain and batting star, Assad Vala, was named as a finalist for the ‘Male Athlete of the Year’ category, alongside Morea Baru (weightlifting) and Justin Olam (rugby league).

Vala made his mark on the international cricket scene in 2016 after having a stellar year with the bat for the HEBOU PNG Barramundis. He finished the year in second place in the ICC Inter-Continental Cup (ICUP) runs scorers on 559 runs at an amazing average of 93.17 runs after four (4) rounds. Only Ed Joyce (Ireland), former English Test Player, was ahead of him.