Australia targets PNG, Vanuatu in cricket diplomacy project

The announcement brings cricket into the PacificAus Sports programme, an Australian government sports diplomacy initiative in the region already involving the Olympic movement, rugby league, rugby union, football and netball.

The “Australia-Pacific Cricket Linkages” project will include allowing Papua New Guinea men’s and women’s team to play in competitions in Australia and offer coaching and training support.

Australian indigenous teams will tour Vanuatu and engage with the community with a particular goal of getting more girls to take up cricket.

“We are very excited to be part of PacificAus Sports and play a role in the development of cricket in PNG and Vanuatu, from the elite level through to community participation,” Cricket Australia chief executive Nick Hockley said.

“We also look forward to delivering benefits off the field, including gender equality outcomes throughout the sport.”

Papua New Guinea’s men, the Burras, are rated 20th and last in the International Cricket Council one-day international world rankings and 19th in Twenty20 cricket after qualifying for last year’s World Cup.

The women, the Lewas, are 15th in the world in the shortest format.

Vanuatu rank 30th in the women’s Twenty20 rankings, while the men are 47th in the world behind Romania and just in front of Norway.

The PacificAus programme also operates in Tonga, Solomon Islands, Fiji and Samoa.