Papua New Guinea national cricket team

Papua New Guinea

Nickname	Barramundis
Association	Cricket PNG
ICC status	Associate (1973)
ICC region	ICC East Asia-Pacific
WCL	WCL Championship
Coach	Dipak Patel
Captain	Jack Vare
First international
PNG v. Australia  (Port Moresby; 30 March 1972)
First-class debut
PNG v. Netherlands  (Amstelveen, Netherlands; 16 June 2015)
List A debut
PNG v. Netherlands  (Belfast, Northern Ireland; 1 July 2005)
Twenty20 debut
PNG v. Afghanistan  (Dubai, UAE; 13 March 2012)
World Cup Qualifier
Appearances	10 (first in 1979)
Best result	3rd place (1982)
World Twenty20 Qualifier
Appearances	3 (first in 2012)
Best result	8th place (2012, 2013, 2015)
As of 14 September 2015

The Papua New Guinea national cricket team, nicknamed the Barramundis, is the team that represents the country of Papua New Guinea in international cricket matches. The team is organised by Cricket PNG, which has been an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) since 1973.^[1][2] Papua New Guinea currently has One Day International (ODI) status, which it gained by finishing fourth in 2014 World Cup Qualifier,^[3] and this also accords them Twenty20 International (T20I) status.

Papua New Guinea is the strongest team in the ICC East Asia-Pacific region, winning most ICC regional tournaments and having a similarly record in the cricket tournament at the Pacific Games.^[2][4] The team has also played in every edition of the World Cup Qualifier (previously the ICC Trophy).^[5] Papua New Guinea holds the world record for the highest score in a one-day match, making 572/7 against New Caledonia in 2007.^[6]

History

Beginnings

Cricket was introduced to the Territory of Papua by missionaries in the 1890s, and the local population soon took up the game. Matches were not always played to strict rules, with teams of more than fifty players a common occurrence. Cricket did not arrive in the Territory of New Guinea until Australia took over the administration of the territory under a United Nations mandate.^[2]

Cricket in rural areas tended to be played mostly by the indigenous population, whilst in urban areas such as Port Moresby the game was played mostly by the British and Australian expatriate population, and a competition for clubs in the city was started in 1937. A team of nine expatriate and two indigenous players played in Papua New Guinea's first international, against Australia^[2] in 1972.^[7]

Since its beginnings cricket was picked up naturally in the Motuan areas of Papua New Guinea, most recognisably the village of Hanuabada. Hanuabada village is located on the outer suburbs of Port Moresby, here cricket is played everyday from small children to their national stars, every afternoon the streets are flooded with boys playing cricket, this was also where the Liklik Kricket Competition was started in PNG. It may be for these reasons more than half of the PNG national cricket team is from Hanuabada village.

ICC membership

Papua New Guinea became an associate member of the ICC in 1973,^[1] shortly before the country gained independence in 1975.^[2] The West Indies cricket team visited the country that year, beating the national side by four wickets.^[8] The team for that match contained six indigenous players, and from this point on, indigenous players began to dominate the national team.^[2]

They played in the first ICC Trophy in 1979, though they failed to progress beyond the first round.^[9] They won the gold medal at the first South Pacific Games cricket tournament later in the year and have won the gold medal every time since.^[2][4] After a tour of Australia in 1981,^[10] Papua New Guinea had their best international performance in the 1982 ICC Trophy where they finished third after beating Bangladesh in a play-off.^[11]

Papua New Guinea again failed to progress beyond the first round at the 1986 ICC Trophy,^[12] though they did record the highest total in the tournament's history in their match against Gibraltar.^[13] They bounced back to win the gold medal at the South Pacific Games in New Caledonia the following year.^[2] They reached the second round of the 1990 ICC Trophy in the Netherlands^[14] and the gold medal when they hosted the South Pacific Games in 1991.^[2]

They reached the plate final of the 1994 ICC Trophy, but did not play the match as they had already booked a flight home, not expecting to qualify.^[15] This has been an occasional problem for Papua New Guinea, as flights to and from the country are infrequent. They also left the 1998 ACC Trophy in Nepal early after losing their first two games, forfeiting their match against the Maldives as otherwise they would have had to have waited more than a week for the next flight. This has also meant they have rarely played overseas outside of official tournaments, the only exceptions being a visit to Fiji in 1977, a tour of Hong Kong in the early 1980s and the aforementioned tour of Australia.^[2]

Modern era

Another international outlet for Papua New Guinea team opened up in 1996 when they participated in the first ACC Trophy in Kuala Lumpur. They reached the semi-final, where they lost to Bangladesh.^[16] They played in the tournament again in 1998, but left the tournament early. They have not played in the tournament since due to the establishment of the ICC's East Asia/Pacific development region.^[2] In-between the two ACC Trophy tournaments, Papua New Guinea finished 13th in the 1997 ICC Trophy.^[17] They failed to progress beyond the first round of the 2001 tournament in Ontario.^[18] They finished third in the 2001 Pacifica Cup^[19] and won the same event in 2002, beating Tonga in the final.^[20]

They again won the gold medal at cricket tournament of the 2003 South Pacific Games,^[21] and in 2005 played in the repêchage tournament of the 2005 ICC Trophy. They won the tournament after beating regional rivals Fiji in the final.^[22] This qualified them for the 2005 ICC Trophy, where they finished 11th.^[23] In 2007, Papua New Guinea played in Division Three of the World Cricket League in Darwin where they finished third.^[24] They played in the cricket tournament of the 2007 South Pacific Games, where they again won the gold medal.^[4]

In late January 2009, Papua New Guinea travelled to Buenos Aires to take part in Division Three of the World Cricket League where they played Argentina, the Cayman Islands, Uganda and the top two teams from Division Four in 2008. A top two finish in this tournament would have qualified them for the 2009 ICC World Cup Qualifier in South Africa later in 2009, from which they could have qualified for the 2011 World Cup.^[25] Papua New Guinea narrowly missed qualification, ending up in third place behind Afghanistan and Uganda.

It was third time lucky for Papua New Guinea when they contested Division Three of the World Cricket League in January 2011. Winning their first 4 matches of the tournament, they had assured themselves a top two finish, before losing the final round robin match and then the final, both against Hong Kong.

In April 2011, Papua New Guinea took part in Division Two of the World Cricket League, held in the United Arab Emirates and came third, thus qualifying for the 2014 Cricket World Cup Qualifier in New Zealand.

In February 2013, Papua New Guinea travelled to Auckland, New Zealand for the EAP Championship and went through the group stages unbeaten before defeating Vanuatu in the final.^[26] As a result, they participated in the 2013 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in the UAE in October.

ODI and T20I status

Papua New Guinea finished 4th in the final qualifying tournament for the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup, in New Zealand in 2014. While missing out on qualification for the World Cup, their final position allowed them to gain One Day International (ODI) status for the first time.^[27] By having ODI status, the International Cricket Council (ICC) also granted Papua New Guinea Twenty20 International (T20I) status.^[28]

The team played their first ODI match in a two-match series against Hong Kong in Australia in November 2014.^[29] They won the first by 4 wickets, the second by 3 wickets. As on date (November-2016), they are the only country that has won its first two ODIs.

Papua New Guinea's first scheduled T20I match was against Hong Kong on 13 July 2015 at the 2015 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier. However the match was abandoned without a ball bowled due to rain, with no toss taking place.^[30] They played their first full match two days later, against Ireland, beating them by 2 wickets.^[31] With their victory against Nepal on 17 July, they became the first team to qualify for the play-off section of the tournament.^[32]

Papua New Guinea crashed out early from the race of qualification for the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 slated to be held in India. They finished eighth during the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in Ireland and Scotland.

Papua New Guinea Cricket Board

Papua New Guinea Cricket Board is the official governing body of the sport of cricket in Papua New Guinea. Its current headquarters is in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Papua New Guinea Cricket Board is Papua New Guinea's representative at the International Cricket Council and is an associate member and has been a member of that body since 1973. It is also a member of the East Asia-Pacific Cricket Council.

Home ground

Amini Park

Amini Park is a cricket ground in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.^[33][34] The ground is named for the Amini family, several of whom have played cricket for Papua New Guinea,^[35] the ground has seen the men's team play Australia, the West Indies and Victoria.

The women's team played Japan in a three match series at the ground in September 2006.^[36]

Tournament history

World Cup record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	L	T	NR
1975	Did not qualify
1979	Did not qualify
1983	Did not qualify
1987	Did not qualify
1992	Did not qualify
1996	Did not qualify
1999	Did not qualify
2003	Did not qualify
2007	Did not qualify
2011	Did not qualify
2015	Did not qualify
2019	-	–	–	–	–	–	–
Total	0 Titles	0/10	0	0	0	0	0

ICC World Twenty20

World Cup record
Year	Round	Position	GP	W	L	T	NR
2007	Did not qualify
2009	Did not qualify
2010	Did not qualify
2012	Did not qualify
2014	Did not qualify
2016	Did not qualify
Total	0 Titles	0/10	0	0	0	0	0

ICC World Cricket League

• 2007: Division Three 3rd place^[24]
• 2009: Division Three 3rd place
• 2011: Division Three 2nd place
• 2011: Division Two 3rd place

ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier

• 2012: 8th place^[37]
• 2013: 8th place^[38]
• 2015: 8th Place^[39]

ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier (ICC Trophy)

• 1979: First round^[9]
• 1982: 3rd place^[11]
• 1986: First round^[12]
• 1990: Second round^[14]
• 1994: Reached plate final but did not take part^[15]
• 1997: 13th place^[17]
• 2001: First round^[18]
• 2005: 11th place^[23]
• 2009: Did not qualify
• 2014: 4th place

ICC EAP Cricket Trophy

• 2009: 1st place
• 2011: 1st place^[40]
• 2013: 1st place^[26]

Pacifica Cup

• 2001: 3rd place^[19]
• 2002: Winners^[20]

South Pacific Games

• 1979: Gold medal^[2]
• 1987: Gold medal^[2]
• 1991: Gold medal^[2]
• 2003: Gold medal^[21]
• 2007: Gold medal^[4]
• 2011: Gold medal

ACC Trophy

• 1996: Semi final^[16]
• 1998: First round^[2]
• 2000 onwards: Not taken part as now part of the East Asia/Pacific region^[2]

Records

International Match Summary – Papua New Guinea^[41][42]

One Day Internationals

• Highest team total: 264/7 vs.  Hong Kong, 9 November 2014^[43]
• Highest individual score: 109, Lega Siaka vs.  Hong Kong, 9 November 2014^[44]
• Best innings bowling: 6/41, Chad Soper vs.  Hong Kong, 6 November 2016^[45]

ODI record versus other nations^[41]

ODI records versus other nations
Opposition	M	W	L	Tie	NR	Win%	First Win
Hong Kong	5	3	2	0	0	60.00%	8 November 2014
Records complete to ODI #3803. Last updated 8 November 2016.

Twenty20 Internationals

• Highest team total: 127/6 vs.  Afghanistan, 23 July 2015^[48]
• Highest individual score: 37*, Charles Amini vs.  Afghanistan, 23 July 2015^[49]
• Best innings bowling: 3/11, Pipi Raho vs.  Ireland, 7 February 2016^[50]

T20I record versus other nations^[42]

T20I records versus other nations
Opposition	M	W	L	Tie+W	Tie+L	NR	Win%	First Win
Afghanistan	1	0	1	0	0	0	0.00%
Ireland	4	2	2	0	0	0	50.00%	15 July 2015
Nepal	1	1	0	0	0	0	100.00%	17 July 2015
Records complete to T20I #495. Last updated 9 February 2016.

First-Class Matches

• Most first-class runs: Assad Vala 559
• Most first-class wickets: Norman Vanua 16
• Highest individual score: Assad Vala 144* v Namibia, 16-19 Oct. 2016
• Highest team score: 311 v Namibia, 16-19 Oct. 2016
• Best bowling (innings): Loa Nou 5/49 v Netherlands, 16-18 June 2015
• Best bowling (match): Lega Siaka 7/54 v Namibia, 16-19 Oct. 2016

ICC Trophy

• Highest team total: 455/9 v Gibraltar, 18 June 1986 (Tournament record)^[13]
• Highest individual score: 162 by T Souter v Israel, 20 June 1986^[53]
• Best innings bowling: 5/12 by W Maha v Gibraltar, 18 June 1986^[54]

Overall

• Highest team total: 572/7 v New Caledonia, 31 August 2007 (World record)^[6]
• Highest individual score: 162 by B Harry v Israel, 20 June 1986^[2]
• Best innings bowling: 8/27 by Mea Steven v New Hebrides, 1979^[2]

Players

Current squad

The following table lists the 14 players in Papua New Guinea's squad for the 2014 Cricket World Cup Qualifier.

Other players

In addition to those listed above, the following Papua New Guinea players have played List A cricket:

• Inoa Baeau^[55]
• Jamie Brazier
• Toka Gaudi^[56]
• Gima Keimolo^[57]
• Peter Moide
• Ipi Morea
• John Ovia
• Arua Uda
• Kauna Vagi^[58]

See also

• Papua New Guinea national women's cricket team
• Papua New Guinea Under-19 cricket team
• Papua New Guinea ODI cricketers
• Papua New Guinea T20I cricketers

References

National sports teams of Papua New Guinea
Association football M W W U-20 Australian football Basketball M W M U-19 W U-19 M U-17 W U-17 Cricket M W Netball Rugby league M W Rugby union Squash M W Volleyball