PNG BARRAMUNDIS TEAM ANNOUNCED FOR ICC T20 WORLD CUP

• CONSISTENT PERFORMANCES REWARDED IN SELECTION PROCESS

Cricket PNG (“CPNG”) has announced the PNG Barramundis Team to the ICC MEN’S T20 WORLD CUP to be held in the West Indies and USA, from the 25th of May to the 29th of June 2024. The PNG Barramundis depart Port Moresby on the 13th of May 2024 and will go into a preparation camp for the 9 days before moving to Trinidad for the support period and two official warm-up matches. The first-round matches commence on 2nd June 2024, with PNG taking on the West Indies, a previous winner of this event, followed by Uganda, Afghanistan, and New Zealand.

The team is:

Assadollah VALA Captain

Charles AMINI

Alei NAO

Chad SOPER

Hila VARE

Hiri HIRI

Jack GARDNER

John KARIKO

Kabua MOREA

Kipling DORIGA

Lega SIAKA

Norman VANUA

Sema KAMEA

Sese BAO

Tony URA

The full staff is:

Tamzin WARDLEY - Team Manager

Richard DONE - CEO

Tatenda TAIBU - Head Coach

John OVIA - Assistant Coach

Nathan REARDON - Specialist Coach

Philip SIMMONS - Specialist Coach

Dr. Najeebullah SOOMRO - Medical Officer

Hennah JOKU - Media Manager

Siyih JOHANG - Physiotherapist

Harrison MCCONCHIE - Analyst

Cricket PNG Chair, Michael Harrison said, “It’s an exciting time for cricket in PNG, and with the men’s and women’s Isuzu T20 Smash successfully completed, we head straight into international cricket again. Our PNG Siales departed this week for their U19 T20 World Cup EAP Qualifier, and we wish them all the best. Our PNG Barramundis also head off to the ‘big one’, the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, which we’ve been waiting for since we qualified in July last year.

The Barras preparation since December last year, all under the watchful eye of Barramundis Coach, Tatenda Taibu included a 14-day camp in Brisbane, a month-long tour of India, Oman, Hong Kong and Malaysia, The Men’s T20 Smash domestically and, still to come, 8 days in St Kitts in the Caribbean, where they will play four more T20 matches, two each against Canada and Namibia. On behalf of the Board of Cricket PNG, I wish them all the best for the event. If hard work and passion count, our Barras deserve to do well.”

PNG Barramundis Coach, Tatenda Taibu said, “I have officially been with Cricket PNG since January this year and given that time, our selection process for the team to represent PNG at the T20 World Cup, has been fair to all players. We used the tour to India, Oman, Hong Kong and Malaysia to be the final test for selection, and we wanted the players to understand that selection comes from performances. If someone brings statistics and says that this is what I’ve been doing, performances with the bat, with the ball or with the gloves, then we are forced to look at that player, so that’s what we used and that’s the basis for all selections. It’s going to be performance-based which opens the door for selection for anyone who performs in the country.

In following that process, I am extremely happy with the team that I’ve got, and the preparation has been going very well. After a short break following the Men’s Isuzu T20 Smash tournament, we have been working on our skills, and in the upcoming week until we depart, we will focus on the opposition that we will be playing against. Fitness wise the team is at the standard that we expect and want so everyone is playing at the best of their abilities. Giving one hundred percent is non-negotiable.”

Meanwhile PNG Barramundis Captain, Assadollah Vala said, “Our preparations have been going really well for the last couple of weeks with our coach Tatenda leading the way. It’s been tough over the last two weeks specifically with our strength and conditioning and skills training. But it’s been really good preparing the boys for this important tournament coming up. Very minor injuries, nothing serious, we are feeling good and ready for the World Cup. Hopefully all the work we’ve been doing with Tatenda will pay off.

The energy has also been great within the team! For some of the boys who went to the last T20 World Cup, it’s a different feeling now with a lot of the training because the last time was during COVID, and the preparation wasn’t as good as what we’re going through now. I am looking forward to this event because I know we are going to do well.”

Papua New Guinea will play against Uganda, New Zealand, Afghanistan, and the West Indies. The full schedule is: