Papua New Guinea’s seeds sprout surprising success
Cricket has a habit of producing heart-warming upsets, victories by underdogs so unlikely that they seemed impossible to imagine before they happened.
Much cricket has passed under the bridge since a very amateur Ireland team bowled the great West Indies out for 25 in 1969, but that day is still as fondly remembered as the more modern David-Goliath contests.
This weekend a fully professional Ireland team qualified automatically for the T20 World Cup in Australia in exactly 12 months’ time, which was expected, but so too did Papua New Guinea (PNG), which was not but was extremely popular.
Even the Dutch team, whom they forced into second place on net run rate after both had won five of their six group games, were quick to congratulate the islanders. Needing to win their final match against Kenya, PNG crashed to 19/6 in the power play before No 8 Norman Vanua made a calm 54 from 48 balls to reach a competitive 118 all out.
Vanua took the new ball and claimed 2/19, with Nosaina Pokana taking 3/21 and captain Assad Vala 3/7 as Kenya were bundled out for 73. It is the first time PNG have reached a senior men’s ICC event.
“A couple of years ago, we would have been all out for 60 or 70. The boys learnt, showed some character, and got us up to a total that we were able to defend,” said Vala. “It means a lot to the players and the fans. I don’t know how many qualifiers we’ve been to, we’ve come close on so many occasions, but this group believed they could get it done.
“T20 really suits the way we play, there’s a lot of energy involved and we don’t play a lot of 50-over cricket, so the boys are used to playing in the shorter format.”
It was vindication of the ICC’s belief that T20 cricket is the only viable way to grow the game globally, with the most established Test-playing nations struggling to maintain first-class cricket at domestic level.
Though Ireland and Afghanistan were recently granted Test status, further promotions are highly unlikely. The absence of the PNG under19s from the 2020 junior World Cup, where they’ve become regulars, was due to their offfield performance at the regional qualifying competition in Japan earlier in 2019 where twothirds of the squad went a little “over the top” celebrating.
Ten players were suspended and the team was withdrawn (resulting in Japan’s maiden appearance when the tournament is staged in that country in January). Not content with suspending the youngsters for breaching what PNG Cricket admitted were “very strict” disciplinary standards, they added: “Sixty hours of community service and a counselling programme with either a qualified counsellor or a village elder.”
Cricket on the island, even in the capital of Port Morseby, is a charming mix of the old and new overseen by a long-serving CEO, former Australian fast bowler Greg Campbell. Another Aussie, all-rounder Andy Bichel, was head coach in 2010 and there have been a variety of exceptional consultants, including spinners Brad Hogg and Deepak Patel, fast bowler Jason Gillespie and batsman Ross Taylor.
Another notable aspect of the PNG national squad is the number of players born, bred and coached in the country. All but two, in fact.
There was no sudden injection of cash, so the playing facilities have been gradually updated and improved, relying greatly on the time and goodwill of volunteers, often the players themselves.
Those who administer the game have taken small seeds of knowledge and planted them wisely. It’s taken two decades, but they now have a World Cup tree to climb.
In just nine days’ time SA cricket lovers have the second edition of the Mzansi Super League (MSL) to look forward to. The Springboks’ progress in the Rugby World Cup has made it difficult to gain attention.
I asked an old administrator friend in Australia to give me a short list of the reasons the Big Bash League (BBL) has become so successful.
He sent me this: “1-3, fill the stadiums everything else comes from that, don’t give tickets away, but make them cheap. 4, aim for the family audience. 5, the cricket is part of the entertainment we have acrobats, music, gymnasts and fireworks. 6, be very active on social media. 7, the players must engage with the audience, and not just on match day. They must build a rapport with the kids and their parents.”
Anybody who has seen the MSL’s marketing strategy will see that they have taken many seeds of knowledge from the BBL. Now to grow them. If you are planning to attend, please encourage others to do so. If you are not planning to attend, please do.
Bums on seats and happy faces are the first, second and third steps to making this a success. And we really, really need this tournament to be a success.