Lewas off to Zimbabwe

The National Sports

By PATRICIA KEAMO
THE Papua New Guinea Lewas depart tomorrow for a month-long tour in Zimbabwe and the United Arab Emirates with one-day-international (ODI) and Twenty-20 (T20) matches scheduled.
Head coach David Drew yesterday announced a 14-member squad which included Australian-based Lakshmi Rajadurai with Brenda Tau named as captain.
Drew, who has been overseeing the team since the Pacific Cup in January, said he was impressed with the team’s performance and looks forward to see them fare well in the tour.
The Australian has named a mixed squad of experienced and young players including 15-year-old Rajadurai, who will make her debut with the Lewas.
Rajadurai has been playing with New South Wales Metropolitan team and was part of the PNG Siales U19 team. Their tour in Zimbabwe will see the Lewas play three ODI and three T20 against the hosts over two weeks before leaving for UAE where they have two ODI scheduled with United States and Scotland.
With the team ranked 11th in the T20 World Ranking, Drew said they were looking to better their ODI performance and status.
“We haven’t played too much (ODI) so we want to keep on learning and improving on little steps as we go,” Drew said of the five ODI the team has scheduled.”
When asked of the depth of the team having youth and experienced players, Drew said it was critical to help the team advance.
“I want them (young players) to improve so they can put pressure on the older and more experienced players because that will make them better as well,” Drew responded to questions from The National.
“We need to make sure that we keep improving our young players because some of the more experienced players aren’t going to be around for a long time.
“So we need to make sure that our young players are travelling and having experience with our experienced players and learning from so that they’re going to be better and be able to bring up the next generation as well.
Squad: Brenda Tau (captain), Sibona Jimmy (vice-captain), Tanya Ruma, Lakshmi Rajadurai, Pauke Siaka, Isabel Toua, Naoani Vare, Geua Tom, Kevau Frank, Henao Thomas, Vicky Ara’a, Buruka Vicky, Dika Lohia, Melanie Ani, David Drew (head coach0, Nao Kamea (team manager), Anthea Murray (strength and conditioning coach), Maryanne Pahun (physiotherapist).