Barramundis’ Ura not planning on retiring soon

KUMUL Petroleum Papua New Guinea Barramundi Tony Ura has so far played professional cricket for 11 years and has no plans yet on retiring.
Raukele cricket club was where the Central and Madang native first joined a cricket team (Under-15s) in 2005.
From that club to now being part of the national men’s team, who are preparing for their maiden Twenty-20 World Cup, is such a surreal moment for Ura.
“This is our debut in the World Cup so we’re ecstatic to be facing some of cricket’s ‘big dogs’,” the 32-year-old said.
Ura has travelled to countries like Australia, United Arab Emirates, Zimbabwe, Namibia, England and South Africa.
Out of all these places, he would love to visit England again because he said it was a beautiful place. But home is always at heart.
When the opening batsman is back home, he visits his club. It’s part of his personal growth, giving back to the community.
“I help the club with fitness training. Most of them are kids who are 10 to 15-year-olds,” Ura said.
If he is not at the club or on the field, he’s probably fishing or gardening.
Ura says he loves his local food and music. His playlist has loads of songs from popular group Viginuts and other tracks from his Hula village.
As the World Cup nears, Ura is already training hard. His cricket inspirations come from England legend Kevin Pietersen and former Australian cricketer Andrew Symonds.