Arua graces Amini Park on her way to rest

By PATRICIA KEAMO
WITH the sound of bagpipes in the background, her casket was carried to the pitch by members of the PNG Barramundis where she was given a captain’s send-off with one final coin toss.
That was the last time Kaia Arua graced Amini Park, her second home, before she was laid to rest at the Badihagwa cemetery on Friday.
At age 33, the Papua New Guinea all-rounder had a huge impact on everyone around her when she passed on.
“A loving mother to two beautiful children. A wife, a sister and a friend.”
But most of all, she was a trailblazer in women’s cricket in the country as well as in the East Asia Pacific Oceania region.

In her final trip to Amini Park, Arua’s casket was carried by the former Lewas, her mum was also a former representative.
She comes from a cricket family with her maternal uncle John Ovia, a former Barramundi and now assistant coach for the men’s team.
After a memorial ceremony, her jersey #23, the same as her favourite cricket idol and former Australian cricketer Shane Warne, was placed on top of her casket with her bat before a final coin toss was done.
When news of her passing broke, widespread tributes flowed in from cricketers in the region including the Vanuatu Cricket Association as far as the International Cricket Council and FairBreak.
“The East Asia-Pacific cricket community is in mourning following the news of the passing of Papua New Guinea international Kaia Arua at just 33,” ICC said in a statement on their website.
A starring all-rounder for the Lewas, Arua first appeared in the national team colours at the East Asia-Pacific Trophy back in 2010, taking on hosts Japan in Sano.
Arua became a regular for PNG in various East-Asia Pacific pathway events and Pacific Games cricket, before being named in the team’s squad for the 2017 Women’s Cricket World Cup qualifier.
The all-rounder took captaincy of PNG in a match against Ireland at the 2018 T20 World Cup qualifier and was named in the ICC Women’s Global Development squad in the same year.
Arua took the captaincy on a permanent basis at the 2019 East Asia-Pacific T20 World Cup qualifier, helping her side to a tournament win and qualification for both the 2019 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup qualifier and the 2021 Women’s Cricket World Cup qualifier tournaments.
A flowing left-arm wrist spinner and an intelligent stroke player with the bat, Arua led Papua New Guinea in 39 T20Is with official status, winning 29 matches.
Her 59 T20I wickets at 10.2 is the most by a PNG women’s international, with her figures of 5/7 (4) against Japan the second-best in her team’s T20I history.
In a period of growth in women’s franchise T20 cricket, Arua featured in Fairbreak tournaments across 2022 and 2023 for the Falcons.
Her recent success and last international appearance was in January where she led the Lewas in defending the Pacific Cup title.
Former PNG Lewas Ravini Oa described Arua as a loving and responsible mother and a good friend to everyone that does everything for her family and being committed and dedicated to her cricket family.
She is survived by her partner and two children – a son and a daughter.
Assistant coach for the Lewas, Mahuru Dai in his tribute said Arua was full of life and open to everyone, even when she was sick, she didn’t want to worry those around her and kept a brave face on telling everyone she was okay.
“Kaia’s passing is a huge loss to the team and the sport,” an emotional Dai said.
“We lost our most experienced and valuable player. We will never see the likes of her again.”