Pacific MMI Sponsor PNG Lewas
Cricket PNG is thrilled to announce Pacific MMI coming on board as the Major Sponsor for Women's National Cricket team, the Lewas.
They will now be known as the Pacific MMI Lewas. This is a great boost for the girls who are already in heavy preparation for the Pepsi ICC East Asia-Pacific Championship to be held in Vanuatu mid May.
The sponsorship deal is worth K55,000 per year for two years. This will help the Pacific MMI Lewas prepare for the regional qualifiers which involves a training camp and games in Queensland before arriving in Vanuatu. The new sponsorship will also see a change in the national jersey, which will move away from the red V seen in the last couple of years.
"For Pacific MMI, this sponsorship is essential part of our business and reflects our commitment to giving back to the community and people that support us," said Wayne Dorgan the Managing Director of Pacific MMI. "We take great pride in our sponsorships and are committed to ensuring Papua New Guineans have the opportunity to realize their full potential now and in the future." said Wayne.
The ICC EAP T20 Women's Championship in Vanuatu is the biggest event on the calendar for women cricketers in the Pacific. The Lewas will have to contend with a few new challenges in the match up in Vanuatu. One of those will be Fiji with Australian Based Captain Alisha Dean and new coach Joe Rika.
Japan go in as one of the favourites having won the event in 2010 and Samoa have some quality girls who play top level cricket in New Zealand.
The ICC EAP Qualifier takes place from 14-18th May and will see PNG play Japan, Fiji, Samoa, Cook Islands and Vanuatu.
"The players have been training hard for this tournament and we are confident that we will win the tournament," said Peter Moide, coach of the Pacific MMI Lewas. "The team shows a real mix youth and experience, from which we can hopefully lay a good foundation for future competitions." said Peter.
In further good news for women's cricket in PNG, the ICC just release that PNG finished 4th overall globally for Women's Senior Playing Numbers only behind England, India and Australia and finishing 3rd in Overall Women's Participation, once again behind England and Australia.
"This is fantastic news for our Pacific MMI Lewas. It shows what potential they really have to compete on the world stage. They could very easily be the first PNG team playing cricket on the global stage," said Cricket PNG General Manager Greg Campbell.
