Female duo selected to play Qld cricket team

THE development of cricketing talent in PNG has yielded two girls being  selected to play for the Queensland U18 women’s team at the Cricket Australia U18 national championships.
Tanya Ruma, 17, and Kila Frank, 15, join their male colleagues Assad Vala and Jack Vare, both playing for the ACT Comets in the Future’s League.
Queensland Cricket is known for its strong women’s cricket programme and it was very fortunate for Papua New Guinean women’s cricket that the duo had been selected.
Ruma is a member of the PNG national women’s team, the Lewas, which won the team of 2010 award at this year’s International Cricket Council East Asia Pacific Women’s meet.
He hopes to use this tournament to grow as a cricketer against some of the best U18 women’s cricketers in the world.
At only 15, Frank’s invitation to represent Queensland speaks of the impact of junior development  created by Cricket PNG.
Kila has a further five seasons of eligibility for the Queensland U18 side and with this opportunity she has a chance to reach the pinnacle of international women’s cricket.
Cricket PNG national coaching director Andy Bichel was thrilled with the duo’s selection.
He said: “We have placed a huge focus on the identification and development of girls and women’s cricket over the past 18 months. As it has all over the world, cricket has been able to bridge the gender divide in PNG and competitions all over the country are expanding to cater for the huge interest.