Cricket in doubt

 THE Pacific Games’ cricket competition is in doubt after Fiji pulled out last week. 

The Fiji Cricket Association pulled its men’s side out of Games which will be staged in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, from July 4-18. 

Fiji however will be represented in women’s cricket. The decision by Fiji has reportedly seen other countries follow suit which could force organisers to scrap the sport from the Games schedule.

PNG, who are the perennial gold medallists having dominated the sport since the inception of the Games, may well miss out on another chance to add to their  impressive tally.  

Cricket Fiji chief executive officer Inoke Lesusma said the decision was a purely logistical one. “Vanuatu has pulled out, Samoa is not going and the host themselves are fielding a second grade team, so it is not viable for our men to go and play in the Pacific Games and instead we will use the same resources to focus on the World Cricket League,” Lesuma told The Fiji Times last week.

“To send the team it’s going to cost us F$22,000 (K28,143.29) and then preparing the team close to another $15,000 (K19,188.61).

“We would be spending something in the vicinity of $45,000 (K57,565.83) just for the men’s team and sending them to play against in a not so viable competition,” he said.

“We have decided to use the same resources and focus on the World Cricket League. 

This will not only help Fiji move up in ranking but also open doorways for more funding from the International Cricket Council.”

The Pacific Games cricket competition is a six-team Twenty-20 competition with hosts PNG, Fiji, Samoa, Vanuatu, Tonga and Cook Islands the countries which are set to compete.

Cricket PNG has been forced to field their “A” side because of a scheduling clash with the International Cricket Council’s calendar of events. The Barramundis will play in the T20 World Cup qualifiers in Ireland in July.

Cricket PNG general manager Greg Campbell said he was not aware of Fiji’s decision but confirmed the national A side were gearing up for the Games.

He said the men’s competition had no special significance for the ICC’s East Asia Pacific region but the women’s competition did have the world body’s endorsement. 

Lesuma said 2015 was a busy year for Cricket Fiji and sound management decisions had to be made and not participating in the Pacific Games was one of them.

He added that in 2015, the under19s would also be playing a qualifier and depending on the result there would be more overseas games to play.