Digicel PNG U/19 Garamuts Squad announced

CRICKET PNG announces the fourteen-men Digicel PNG U/19 Garamuts Squad that will take part in ICC East Asia Pacific (EAP) Region World Cup Qualifying tournament which will be hosted in Blenheim, New Zealand from 24th February to 1st March 2015.

CPNG National Selection Panel Chairman Api Leka announced the team and highlighted that he was happy with the talent that has been training under the guidance of Digicel U/19 coach John Ovia over the last five months or so.

‘’I must admit that I was very impressed with the talent that was displayed in the squad during their training and trial matches they played in-line with their preparations since September 2014. This shows that there is a good number of young talented cricketers coming through the ranks,’’ commented Chairman of selectors.

The selection panel finalized the team of fourteen (14) players that will be travelling for the tournament and four (4) non travelling reserves following a hectic training schedule and the last two weeks of trial matches in Port Moresby,’’ Chairman Leka added.

Young Lou Toua has been appointed as the captain of the team and will be assisted by co-vice captains Ovia Boge and William Aiga. 

PNG U/19 coach John Ovia was happy with the team that was finalized and said he is confident that the selected players will do the job for the country to qualify for the World Cup. “We have a solid record in the EAP Region as number 1 ranked side and I want to make sure that our status is maintained”. All players worked hard during the preparations phases with training and matches along the way. However, we could only take fourteen players and the selection panel selected the best team possible to represent PNG,” Coach Ovia concluded.

The EAP Region qualifying tournament will consist four teams from the Pacific Region including PNG, Samoa, Fiji and Vanuatu. The winner of this tournament will earn a spot in the 2016 U/19 Cricket World Cup in Bangladesh. The runner-up team will go through another qualifying stage later on in the year.

The final 14 Men PNG U/19 Garamuts team as announced by the selectors for the upcoming EAP Regional World Cup Qualifying tournament is as follows:

Lou Toua

Harry Gavera

Vagi Guba

Gau Arua Simoi

Sere Daure

Helai Guba

Vagi John (W/Keeper)

Arua Gau

Eno Leo

William Aiga

Jack Dairi

Lohia Guba

Ovia Boge

Nou Ako

4 Non Travelling Reserves

Nao Asi

Udu Nou

Vagi Kora

Frank Tutara

Fixture EAP Under 19 Tournament in New Zealand.

Day 1 Sunday 22/2/15 Teams/ umpires arrive

Day 2 Monday training at Ground 1

Day 3 Tuesday 24/2/15 Ground 1: Samoa vs Vanuatu Ground 2: PNG vs Fiji

Day 4 Wednesday 25/2/15 Ground 1: Vanuatu vs Fiji Ground 2: PNG vs Samoa

Day 5 Thursday 26/2/15 Rest Day

Day 6 Friday 27/2/15 Ground 1: Vanuatu vs PNG Ground 2: Fiji vs Samoa

Day 7 Saturday 28/2/15 Ground 1: 2nd place vs 3rd place Ground 2: 1st place vs 4th place (friendly)

Day 8 Sunday 1/3/15 Rest/ Reserve Day

Day 9 Monday 2/3/15 Teams leave