Cricket PNG Congratulates Lakani

PNG Umpire Lakani Oala has just returned from Bangladesh were he umpired in the ICC Women's World Cup Qualifier.

During the event Lakani past another milestone in his career, given a chance to umpire in his first One Day International between Bangladesh and Ireland.

An ICC level 3 umpire, Lakani is PNG's most decorated officiator of the game. Adding to this recent achievement Lakani recently acted as the tournament referee & umpire at the Pacific Games in Noumea, umpired ICC EAP T20 qualifiers held in Port Moresby and the Australian Country Cricket Championships in Bunbry, Western Australia in January this year.

Lakani umpired 8 matches in total in Bangladesh with his last match being his first ODI.

"It was a special match to umpire, being part of Bangladesh Women's cricket history," said Lakani on his first ODI. "I will always remember this game and the delight of the Bangladesh team after their win."

Bangladesh had only achieved ODI status in the previous match defeating USA. They defeated Ireland by 82 runs to win their first ever ODI.

"Lakani's umpiring experience is invaluable to us at CPNG. He brings back with him a wealth of knowledge from these tournaments, which he uses to develop our own umpires in PNG," said Greg Campbell the Cricket PNG general manager. "He also gives us some insight to how our national squads fare up on the world stage."