BY KATHRYN BENNETT
Melbourne Weekly
PAPUA NEW GUINEA CRICKET WILL GET A BOOST when the national team goes head-to-head with the Hawthorn Cricket Club for a charity match today.
Watch the game from 10am, January 29, Rathmines Road Reserve, Rathmines Road, East Hawthorn. Entry is free.
The idea came to Hawthorn coach Dan van den Hoek [pictured] when he was volunteering for an exhibition game between the under-16 Papua New Guinea and West Indies teams.
“I thought it would be a great chance to expose players to an international standard and generate more exposure for the Papua New Guinea team,” he says.
Van den Hoek approached the team manager of Papua New Guinea, Pat Khan, who happened to be a family friend. In just a few weeks, they put together a full day of cricket and fund-raising at the Ainslie Park club in Croydon, where van den Hoek was a player.
Three hundred people turned out to see the PNG side win both games. Nine cricket bags full of second-hand equipment were donated to the club.
“It also doubled as a fund-raiser for the club and we donated the money to the bushfire appeal,” says van den Hoek. “It was a great result considering we didn’t have much publicity or time before the day.”
When van den Hoek moved from Ainslie Park to Hawthorn, he decided to bring the idea with him.
He approached PNG’s team again, this time through chief executive officer Bill Leane.
“Bill was more than happy to oblige and give us the chance to raise some money again,” says van den Hoek.
The aim of the match is to promote grassroots cricket in Victoria and develop the game in Papua New Guinea. While the country’s fledgling cricketers are attracting international attention, they struggle to sustain themselves at a local level.
Papua New Guinea is currently ranked 19th in the world in One Day International matches by the International Cricket Council.
The team is rated the best ODI cricket-playing nation in the east Asia-Pacific region, while the under-19s side has qualified for the World Cup.
Van den Hoek says the team takes every opportunity to practise in attempts to improve their ranking on the ICC ODI table.
“It should be a good game,” he says. “This year I think the game will be much closer, with more players available due to the weekend fixture – rather than midweek like last year – and a great depth of talent at Hawthorn Cricket Club.”
Comments