Vanuatu won a vital play-off match against Samoa at the ICC East Asia-Pacific Trophy to take a step closer to the World Cricket League Division 8. Andrew Mansale was once again the hero for Vanuatu, smashing his second century of the tournament, while receiving excellent support from Jonathan Dunn and Damian Smith.

Though Samoa never gave up during the reply, Vanuatu comfortably recorded a victory which was reward for their investment in youth development in the past decade.

According to Seb Kohlhase, the Samoa Cricket president, the team had achieved their aims even before the first ball was bowled in the finals. "Our main goal was to go up the rankings and making the finals is just phenomenal," Kohlhase said. "Along the way, we have finally, after 10 years of trying, defeated the Cook Islands and that's historical. With new and younger players coming through, cricket has a vision to become a major sport in Samoa's sporting landscape.

Continue reading "Vanuatu take strides towards WCL Division 8"

Papua New Guinea continued their dominance in Apia with another convincing win to take the World Cricket League section of the East Asia Pacific (EAP) Trophy.

Continue reading "Papua New Guinea steamroll Japan"

Vanuatu captain Andrew Mansale smashed his maiden East Asia-Pacific Trophy century to lead his team to a strong victory over Tonga at Samoa Gardens on Thursday. Mansale was in fine form and played a superb innings, belting the Tongan bowlers to all parts of the ground. His 115 included 10 boundaries and three sixes, and with the support of Simpson Obed (32), opener Lazarot Carlot (29) and Jonothan Dunn (26), Vanuatu were able to reach a competitive 245.

In reply, Tonga lost an early wicket before captain Aisake Haukinima steadied the ship. Haukinima was dismissed for a quickfire 21 before middle-order batsman Ofahulu played a fantastic lone hand, belting some enormous sixes in the pursuit of quick runs.

With little support, Tonga were eventually dismissed for 140; Ofahulu standing out with a fine 71, 50 of which came from boundaries and sixes.

Continue reading "Mansale ton hands Vanuatu big win"

Fiji missed a priceless opportunity to beat their main opposition for the East Asia-Pacific (EAP) Trophy, losing to Papua New Guinea (PNG) by 37 runs in the opening game of the 50-over section in Apia, Samoa.

PNG were wallowing at 45 for 6 before a timely rain delay provided a chance to regroup. On their return, wicketkeeper Arua Dikana and Loa Noa put on a valuable 40-run partnership to give the tournament favourites a total of 117, one its bowlers could defend.

Earlier, PNG had started positively, but the tournament favourites came unstuck due to some tight bowling and keen fielding from Fiji. Three wickets, including two run-outs, and then a brace of wickets to left-armer Sakaraia Lomani had PNG struggling, before rain held up play. Lomani finished with 3 for 31 from eight overs as Fiji were left chasing a reduced total of 108 from 43 overs.

Continue reading "Missed opportunity for Fiji in EAP Trophy"

Tony Munro

Papua New Guinea demonstrated why they are the favourite for the East Asia-Pacific Trophy with crushing ten-wicket wins in both its Twenty20 matches on day one of the tournament in Apia, Samoa on Thursday.

Fielding a new look combination, PNG routed Japan for 20 in their morning match, needing just 2.5 overs to seal the win. They then skittled the Cook Islands for 42, requiring only 4.2 overs to finish the day unbeaten.

PNG fast bowler Willie Gavera capitalised on early wickets from captain Chris Amini to finish the Japan innings, collecting a haul of 4 for 3 from four overs. Japan allrounder, Cheema Razaq, who bats right-handed and bowls left-handed, was his team's top scorer with 7.

Fiji was the other unbeaten team, comfortably beating Vanuatu and Samoa. The bulk of the Vanuatu team had just come from the ICC Under 19 World Cup Qualifiers in Canada.

The match featured some fierce six-hitting, especially from Fiji's veteran opener Joji Bulabalavu, who smashed eight sixes and five fours.

Left-hand Vanuatu opener Damian Smith retaliated, bashing three sixes and five fours on his way to 56 before he was run-out. Fiji won by 43 runs.

Japan rebounded in their afternoon game to beat Tonga by 3 wickets.

Continue reading "PNG score emphatic wins"

South Korea want to ensure their national team is competitive before playing in regional East Asia-Pacific tournaments, a Korea Cricket Association official told Cricinfo this week.

As eight national teams prepare to descend on Apia, Samoa for the East Asia-Pacific Trophy starting this Thursday, Korea Cricket Association secretary Daami Cagney said the next tournament in 2011 is a more feasible target. "Ideally we would like to play a team in the EA-P tournaments, but realistically, there are probably only five or six ethnically Korean players who would be up to the standard, which is why we have re-focused more on developing domestic cricket," Cagney said.

Continue reading "South Korea aim to be competitive by 2011"

The ICC East Asia-Pacific (EAP) team have bounced back from a humiliating outright defeat in Round 1 to overcome South Australia Country (SAC) in Round 2 of the 2009 Australian Country Cricket Championships (ACCC).

With Round 2 being the first of the one-day fixtures, EAP were confident that the talented batting line-up would succeed second time around, and that they did.

With SAC electing to bat first on a good wicket, it was Haodo jnr and Fijian Lomani to take the new ball. After a solid opening stand of 25, youngster Haoda jnr ripped through the top order with a scintillating spell of pace bowling, taking 3 quick wickets, and with Lomani knocking over dangerous opener Knight, SAC was reduced to 4 for 46.

Continue reading "East Asia-Pacific bounce back in style"

A seminar for the ICC’s East Asia – Pacific (EAP) Development Program kicked off today in Melbourne. The five-day course is “a key component in the process to achieve sustainable cricket education within the EAP region and includes an ICC Level 1 coaching Cricket Instructors Course,” the statement read.

Nine highly regarded coaches were selected from an extremely strong pool to attend. The participants are:

PNG John Ovia & Rarua Dikana

Vanuatu Richard Tatwin and Aby Joel John
Japan Jummei Hanada & Nigel Dixon
Fiji Seci Sekinini
Indonesia Melvin Ndoen
Tonga Sione Hamala

The ICC EAP have been able to gain access to world-class facilities through Cricket Australia, Cricket Victoria and the Melbourne Cricket Club.

The ICC EAP Strategic Plan has a strong focus on developing quality cricket coaches in the EAP region, and the Advanced Coaching & Development Seminar is a major part of building sustainable coach development practises.