Cricket resumes activities, staff recalled as restrictions eased

CRICKET Papua New Guinea (CPNG) operations are slowly resuming following the end of the nationwide Covid-19 state of emergency (SOE), according to an official.
CPNG domestic cricket manager Lakani Oala told The National that the Covid-19 pandemic had affected their operations for the past three months.
But with the resumption of sporting activities, he said a handful of staff had been recalled.
“We have close to a 100 CPNG staff,” he said.
“We had laid off most of them during the first three weeks of the SOE, with only three administrative staff and the grounds security remaining.
“We’ve beefed up manpower to resume our high performance programme alongside training for the Barramundis and Lewas (national teams).
“Not all our staff have returned – only a few essential staff like our strength and conditioning coaches.
“Maybe in the next couple of weeks when the new Pandemic Act comes into effect, we can be able to recall all our staff. Like the rest of the country, we closed operations on March 22 during the Covid-19 lockdown.”
Lakani said competitions were still on hold except training for the men’s and women’s national teams.
“The Barramundis and Lewas have been training since April but with strict Covid-19 restrictions because we had special clearance from the SOE controller, through the PNG Sport Foundation.
“Barramundis coach Joe Dawes and chief executive Greg Campbell have returned to the country but they are both in quarantine.
“Hopefully, they are cleared this week and Joe can resume preparing the Barramundis for the T20 World Cup later this year.”