Bentleigh sign on PNG cricket captain

Normal, Sports

LEADING Papua New Guinea cricketer Rarua Dikana will play at Bentleigh in 2010-11.
An all-rounder, Dikana is the captain of the PNG national team, the Barramundis and a Cricket Australia Level Three (3) accredited high performance coach.
He is a full-time employee of Cricket PNG as national high performance manager and assistant coach of the national men’s team, second to Andy Bichel, the coaching director.
Dikana first played for the PNG national team in 1998, when he was 20, playing in Nepal in the Asian Cricket Council Championship tournament.
He has played in two ICC World Cup qualifiers and three World Cricket League division three tournaments.
He led the PNG team in last year’s WCL 3 tournament in Argentina, taking 13 wickets at an average of 6.38.
In two of the matches, he bagged five wicket-inning hauls and was man-of- the-match.
“He comes with a very impressive resume and we have no doubt he will make a significant contribution, on and off the field for the upcoming season,” Bentleigh president Paul Glew said of his club’s recruit.
“With the Victorian Turf Cricket Association competition becoming stronger each year and the list of overseas recruits growing each season, clubs have to start to look outside the norm with regards to overseas players and think about where else the game is growing.
“Cricket in PNG is fast becoming their national sport and we have already seen some of their players do quite well in our competition, such as Chris Amini, who is a PNG teammate of Rarua’s and who played for Airport West last season.
“We are confident that the appointment of Rarua is one that will benefit both the club and Rarua and, hopefully, help contribute to the growing success of cricket in PNG.”