Maha remains upbeat

By PATRICIA KEAMO
THE national under-19 men’s cricket squad will have a mammoth task against heavyweights Pakistan in their World Cup opener on Jan 16, but head coach Rodney Maha remains optimistic about their chances. He said although the Garamuts were placed in a tough pool with Pakistan, Afghanistan and Zimbabwe, the squad had trained hard over the last three months.
“It’s a big challenge for us, but the players always play with their hearts and the love they have for the country which they’ve shown in the last three months,” Maha said.
“We did a lot of strength and conditioning, and skills training.
“Our first game is against Pakistan (Jan 16), who are a very strong team, and the second game against Afghanistan (Jan 19) then Zimbabwe (Jan 21).
“We had a very short preparation, but the advice that we gave to the players was to do their best.
“They also worked on their attitude, which was very important, given the issues we had in the past with the previous U19 squads.”
Meanwhile, Maha – who is also Cricket Papua New Guinea’s talent identification manager – said he was happy to be appointed as the head coach.
“It’s good to be back as a coach again,” he said
“Previously, I was coaching the women’s national team and helping the men’s side, so I’m not new to this.
“It has been a big challenge to try to start players from scratch.
“Usually, we train the senior players where it’s a bit easier, but I’m loving every minute of it.
“I’m hoping what I’ve taught the players is enough to at least get them motivated.
“Small targets we are aiming for is making sure that we execute what we’ve done at training.
“I really like this group because there are a lot of new stuff we are building up.
“I’m also happy with the two young players – one from Milne Bay and the other from Morobe.
“Our batting will be led by young Boio Ray, Peter Karoho and skipper Barnabas Maha, and a couple of other players who I’m counting on to give us a good start.”