Plans to revive cricket
CRICKET Fiji aims to lift the standard of the sport through the Pacific Islands Cricket Challenge competition in March.
Acting High Performance manager Tomasi Nawaciono said they were trying to bring back the momentum the sport that was once known for.
He said the tournament in March would help achieve their goal.
The tournament is sponsored by the Australian Defence Force and will involve Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Samoa, Cook Island, Fiji and a ANZAC cricket team.
“This is in line with the Vuvale partnership between New Zealand,
Australia and Fiji, and it is a way to unite the community through cricket,” he said.
The tournament is sanctioned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) and officials will be also in the country in March.
“This is like a cricket festival, they will provide training for level one coaching, medics, umpiring and scoring.
“We have also included all associations to partake in this training. After the one week training the tournament starts from March 11-18.
“This is a one-week tournament where everything is being paid for.
“For us it’s a privilege because right now we are trying to grow the sport, our performance has fluctuated in the past years.
“Fiji Cricket once played against Bangladesh in the 1990s and since then we have gone down to division six but now we have gone down.
“So we are trying to rebuild cricket in Fiji and bring back that momentum that we once had.”
He said they would use this tournament as an awareness for the sport.
“This is cricket and to grow the sport and to let the people of Fiji know that soccer and rugby is not only the sport in the country.”
A total of 40 players from Nadi, Suva, Lakeba, Moce, Oneata, Onoi-Lau participated in the men’s national trials at Albert Park in Suva.