Cricket’s World Cup Trophy to grace PNG shores

 WITH the International Cricket Council’s Cricket World Cup 2015 around the corner, Cricket Papua New Guinea will have the trophy brought to Port Moresby as one stop on its world tour.

This is the second time a World Cup trophy has been brought to the country. Last year the rugby union’s World Cup, the William Webb Ellis trophy was brought to the nation’s capital to commemorate the world cup qualifiers and Federation of Oceania Rugby Unions tournament.

This is first time that cricket’s world cup trophy will come to a non-test playing country in the East-Asia Pacific (EAP) region.

ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 chief executive, John Harnden, was thrilled that the event had the opportunity to leave a legacy on one of the biggest improvers in world cricket that was also one of Australia’s closest neighbours

“We’re proud to be able to promote the event in Papua New Guinea, which only just missed out on qualifying for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. We want as many people to get involved, not only with the tournament but with cricket in the country, and what better way to showcase the tournament than through the trophy,” Harnden said. 

The last time the ICC Cricket World Cup was held in the EAP region was back in 1992, in Australia, when Pakistan took home the trophy beating England in the final.

The Barramundis narrowly missed out on a spot in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 after finishing fourth in the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier held in New Zealand earlier this year. Despite missing out on a spot in the World Cup, the Barras still managed to improve their ranking to 16th in the world and also claim OneDay International (ODI) status.

The ICC Cricket World Cup runs from February 14 to March 29. 

The trophy visit will coincide with Cricket PNG’s annual event the “Don’t Drink & Drive” Legends Big Bash, which is supported by Pacific MMI Insurance and the Motor Vehicle Insurance Limited. 

Cricket PNG is set to bring in former test and ODI stars  to promote the “Don’t Drink & Drive” message.

Cricket PNG general manager Greg Campbell, was excited to see the World Cup Trophy head to the region for the first time.

“This is an exciting time for PNG and the EAP region. Having the World Cup Trophy come to PNG is great for the code and the country. The last time this event was in our region was more than 20 years ago and it’s not very often that the trophy of one of the world’s biggest events comes to PNG,” Campbell said.