Barramundis gearing up for Twenty20 World Cup in Oman

FOLLOWING the Papua New Guinea Barramundis departure last week, the national men’s cricket team are expected to play 16 matches in the 50-over and 20-over formats before the Twenty20 World Cup in October.
Cricket PNG (CPNG) general manager Lee McDowell told The National yesterday that the build-up games for the Barras included matches for the Cricket World Cup (CWC) league two in Oman.
He said the logistics of travelling to Oman was another challenge for PNG and other countries amid the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
“We will have 16 games prior to our opening World Cup match,” McDowell said.
“These will be a mixture of 50-over and T20 as we also have the league two series before the World Cup.
“We will release details in stages as we progress, we are still in an uncertain environment due to the Covid-19 pandemic so the schedule could change due to circumstances beyond our control.
“The logistics of getting all these sides into Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and avoiding any issues with entry and then Covid-19 will be quite an effort by all involved.”
The Barramundis’ schedule will see them have their first match against Nepal on Saturday as the team prepare for lead-up friendlies.
Fixtures: PNG v Nepal (Saturday), PNG v United States (Sunday), PNG v Nepal (Sept 7), PNG v US (Sept 8).