Amini following script

By MELTON PAIS
CHARLES Amini Junior’s rise from schoolboy rep to the national side was always on the cards.
Most of his immediate family have played cricket for the country including his father Charles Sr, mother Kune, brother Christopher and grandfather Brian — so its wasn’t a matter of if but when he would play for PNG.
“CJ” as he is called by family, friends and teammates started his cricket career in 1999 when he was just seven and living with in Melbourne, Victoria.
“I started playing cricket in Melbourne for St Barnabas Cricket Club from 1999 to 2001 and then returned and continued playing with Coasters Cricket Club in Port Moresby Cricket Association,” Amini said.
“After 12 years in city cricket, I got a chance to play for PNG in 2013 and I’ve managed to stay in the side since.”
Amini, who was named PNG vice-captain for their ICC WT20 East Asia Pacific (EAP) Qualifier ‘A’ in Suva, Fiji from Aug 25-30, said part of the reason why he had maintained his passion for cricket over the years was because he enjoyed every aspect of the game from batting, bowling to fielding and even scoring.
But he did have a preference for which format he wanted to play.
“I love the T20s, not so much the four-day tests,” Amini quipped.
“I’ve enjoyed batting as well because my coach asked me to change my grip to a more conventional one from the unorthodox grip I had,” he said.
“It helped strengthen my contributions with the bat.
“It took a while to get used to it.
“My arms would kill me in the beginning with the change of grip.
“Now I’m used to it,” he added.
When asked about his vice-captaincy Amini said he was honoured to be given the responsibility.
“It’s a real privilege and a personal goal that I have achieved,” he said.
“In terms of what I bring to the locker room and to my teammates — it’s just a title at the end of the day.
“It doesn’t change much in how I talk to my teammates. We all want the same thing at the end of the day.
“I really like the composition of the team heading to Fiji. It’s well balanced. From our skipper Assad Vala to our 12th man, we want to be consistent in each game.
“We want to win clinically and nothing too fancy.”
“Batsmen are clearer in how they pace their innings, bowlers are stronger.
“We are looking forward to this tournament,”Amini said.