Barras to focus on fitness ahead of one-day international

By ROBINSON LEKA
WITH a big year ahead for the Papua New Guinea Barramundis, head coach Joe Dawes has stressed on fitness as foundation for the team leading up to their first one-day international in June.
Dawes, who attended a Barramundis outing at Kirakira in Port Moresby on Saturday, said the national team were on track with their preparations with the bulk of the players in great shape.
“We’ve set our goals and we’ll be busy in the second half of the year so we’ve set our sights on getting fitter and stronger than we’ve ever been. We’re well and truly on our way to achieving that”, he said.
“Some of the players have got a little work to do but all in all, I’m happy with how things are going and we’re looking forward to some cricket later on.”
The Barramundis will host United Arab Emirates and Nepal in Port Moresby from June 7-17 as part of their Cricket World Cup division two qualifiers.
Meanwhile, Dawes said the team’s visit to Kirakira was the first of many more to come later in the year as Cricket PNG continues to roll out cricket gear to villages.
“We’ve already spoken to a couple of places about doing this later on in the year with the new wickets we are putting around the country and we are waiting for them to be finished,” he said.
“What we’d like to do is to give some of these villages some opportunities to launch their new wickets against the Barramundis.”