Vice-captain Oa to spearhead attack

Ravini Oa, pictured, is set to lead the Papua New Guinea Lewas attack at the Women’s T20 World Cup qualifier in Scotland from Sunday to Sept 8.
The 25-year-old vice-captain, from Hanuabada, is known as one of the fiercest quicks in the women’s national cricket team and she is also handy with the bat.
Oa is married and has a five-year-old daughter. She managed to complete Grade 12 at Badihagwa Secondary School and since then, she has been a fulltime cricketer.
Oa started playing cricket at the age of 14 after being inspired by her former coach and friends who to play for Poreporena in the Port Moresby Cricket Association competition.
After joining the club, it took only two years for her to make the national team when she debuted for the Lewas at the age of 16 in 2012 and since then, she has been consistent on the international stage.
“I am not from a cricketing family, but I grew up mostly with boys in the village and since most of them were playing cricket, it influenced and inspired me to play cricket,” Oa said
“When I was 12 years old, I followed boys around when they were playing cricket, and it came to a point were one of my former coach noticed my potential.
“He told me that I had a good technique in bowling so he suggested that I join Poreporena and I did.
“I started playing in the competition and gained exposure.
“Over time, I’ve developed my skills and cricket has been good for me since then.
“I realised it wasn’t a bad choice to play cricket.
“It has done a lot of good things for me.
“Playing for the Lewas, I get to experience travelling around the world, see new places and meet different people from different cultures.”
The right-arm pace bowler has a number of highlights in her cricket career and one of them was her recent selection into the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Global Development Squad along with Lewas teammate Brenda Tau.
They both went to England and played in a series against the English Academy side.
Oa was a star with her pace in one of the matches, demolishing the English top-order with 3/10 in only two overs.
“Going over to England and being part of that series was an awesome experience for me,” Oa said.
“We got to share our experiences with cricketers from different countries and play in different environments under different coaches and different captain. I learned a lot from that.
Oa has been getting a lot of praise from Lewas coach Rarua Dikana on her recent form and is expected to dominate the Lewas’ attack when they take on defending champions Bangladesh in the opening match of the qualifier.
She is contracted to Cricket PNG, meaning she is employed as a fulltime cricketer.