PNG among five countries to receive ODI status

By PATRICIA KEAMO
THE national women’s cricket squad are one of five countries that were given one-day international (ODI) status last week as part of the revamped International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cup pathway.
This means that the Lewas’ performance in ODI matches will affect their rankings and count towards qualification for the 2025 World Cup.
Lewas head coach Kath Hempenstall told The National yesterday that she was thrilled that the team had obtained that status, which was what they had aimed to achieve on their tour of Australia early this year.
“Hopefully, this will enable us to play more international cricket across both formats (20 and 50 overs),” she said.
“Overall, any increase in opportunities for our national teams to participate in ICC-scheduled events will help to grow cricket in PNG.
“We are playing 50-over cricket in our domestic competition, the Isuzu Cup, with the finals to be held this weekend at Amini Park.
“The Twenty-20 (T20) Isuzu Bash is also due to begin this week.
“The Isuzu tournaments have provided an opportunity for the Lewas to get some more match practice and further build on the development areas we have been working on since our last tour.
“There has been healthy competition among the squad, as well as an opportunity for our Under-19s to test themselves against the best players in the country.
“The Isuzu competitions are a key component of our preparations for the upcoming T20 World Cup qualifiers for the Lewas.”
Meanwhile, the U19 women’s squad will leave for a week-long camp in Australia next month to prepare for their maiden World Cup qualifiers which are scheduled to bat off on July 1.
“The U19s have been training together as a squad since April, with preparations for the T20 World Cup qualifiers in Indonesia going well,” said Hempenstall, who is also heading the U19s.
“The Isuzu tournaments have been a big part of their preparations and it has been fantastic to see some standout performances from some of the squad members during the tournament.
“The squad selected for the World Cup qualifiers will head to Darwin for a week-long training camp prior to the qualifiers in Bali.”
It will be the first time the sport’s national governing body sends an U19 women’s team for international duties.
They will attempt to qualify for next year’s inaugural U19 Women’s World Cup in Bangladesh.
Papua New Guinea will compete against Indonesia and Samoa for the lone qualification spot.
The U19 women’s World Cup will be the first edition by the ICC and is scheduled to be hosted in South Africa in 2023 .