Barramundis to tour India, Oman and Malaysia
Preparations for the Men’s T-20 World Cup are ramping up for PNG Barramundis with the men’s national cricket team set to tour India, Oman and Malaysia.
Cricket PNG chief executive officer Richard Done today announced a 16-man squad that will be led by skipper Assadollah Vala for this circuit scheduled from February 16 – March 19.
“This is a significant tour in preparation for the world cup. We want to see the depth of the team and assess where we can improve on our performance,” Done said.
“The ODI matches are important to elevate our status or rankings.
“So the Barramundis will be heading off to India for about 10 days and then they'll be going to Oman to play two ODI’s and T20 Internationals.
“And then we're hoping at this point that they'll come back through Malaysia for a tri-series.”
The 30-day tour will start this Friday when the Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited-sponsored outfit travel to India for the first phase of the international competition.
The Barramundis have been undergoing intense training after the festive season break to put them on track for the T20 world cup event scheduled from June 1-29 in United States [US] and West Indies.
“We started an intense training for about 6-weeks since returning from the festive season break,” the skipper and veteran Vala said.
Mr. Done clarified that the team travelling these three countries is not the final world cup squad as spots are still available.
The squad is expected to return on March 19 before they begin their world cup campaign on May 15. Prior to attending the world class event, the Barras are rostered for a 10-day tuition and warm up matches to boost their T20 campaign.
“We're hoping to find a venue which we think at the moment will be in Cairns so we compete against one of the other strong associate teams,” he said.
“We go into what's called the support period of the World Cup, which is seven days.
“We'll also get a couple of additional warm-up games before the World Cup starts in early June. over 18 days we'll play four matches, two in Trinidad and two in Guyana, against the West Indies, Uganda, New Zealand and Afghanistan.
“So 18 days of exciting cricket and you never know what happens in an event and I reckon these guys [Barras]have the potential to upset a few of those sides.”
Squad: Assadollah Vala [captain], Tony Ura, Lega Siaka, Kipling Doriga, Sese Bau, Charles Jordan Amini, Hiri Hiri, Norman Vanua, Sema Kamea, Nosaina Pokana, Kabua Vagi Morea, Alei Nao, Hila Vare, Jack Gardner, Chad Soper, John Kariko. Coach: Tatenda Taibu, A/Coach: John Ovia, Physio: Siyih Johang.