Aussie appointed as Lewas coach

CRICKET Papua New Guinea (CPNG) have announced the appointment of former Australian international Kristen Beams as the head coach of the women’s national team (Lewas).
Beams played 49 matches for her country, including a standout tour of Sri Lanka in 2016 when she bagged 16 wickets at an average of 5.50 across four one-day internationals. The 35-year-old said she was looking forward to working with the Lewas with her focus now on preparing the team for the 50-over World Cup.
“I feel really lucky to be here as the Lewas head coach, a new opportunity from a coaching point of view,” Beams said.
“We’ve seen with the Barramundis with Joe Dawes, they talk a lot about doing something.
“If you want to achieve something that you’ve never done before, you have to do things that you’ve never done before and that’s the same with me and the girls.
“We are going to train slightly different, we are going to do things slightly different, train a little bit harder.
“Hopefully, given that we were so close to qualifying for the T20 World Cup, we can actually get to that position and qualify for the 50-over World Cup in June.”
CPNG chief executive Greg Campbell said Beams’ inclusion would be a boost for the Lewas who are preparing for their tour of Sri Lanka (50 overs) in July.
“She is the perfect fit, she has played a lot of cricket and she’s worked hard to get to the top,” he said.
“She continued to play at the top for a long time.
“She comes with an attitude that will definitely push our girls and this is a plus for the Lewas.”