Vanuatu benefit from national camp

For the first time in Vanuatu Cricket's history, the Digicel Senior Men's National Cricket Team went into a training camp at the Vanuatu Football Federation (VFF) Academy in Teouma over the weekend from 9-12 August 2012.

The camp was the brain trust of Peter Wooden, the Vanuatu Cricket Association (VCA) High Performance Development Manager/ National Coach.

"The VCA staff, coaches and players were all very excited about this camp," said Peter Wooden. "With only a couple of weeks left until the ICC World Cricket League Division 8 Tournament in Samoa, this camp was organised to give an opportunity for all our players to fine turn their skills before flying out."

The three day camp consisted of various team building activities, cricket skill related activities and matches at various venues around Port Vila. Nigel Brooks, the Regional Cricket Manager at Central Districts in New Zealand and Alan Mantle, a Sports Psychologist from Australia flew in specifically to assist Wooden with the team preparations for Samoa.

"The VCA was very lucky to have Nigel and Alan on board to assist these boys over the weekend," said Wooden. "I am sure the boys took something out of this camp which will assist them in their cricketing endeavors."

Nigel Brooks has been appointed the Batting Coach of the Digicel Vanuatu Men's Cricket Team. Nigel has worked with various VC National teams in the past and will bring a lot of knowledge to share with team. This was Alan Mantle's first visit to Vanuatu to assist VCA. Alan is no stranger to international cricket, having worked with Cricket Australia and their National Team as a Sports Psychologist. Chris Moran, Roland Cowles and Gayan Loku were the other specialist coaches that worked with the national players at the camp.

"Vanuatu Cricket would like to thank the Vanuatu Football Federation and in particular Fabien Hoeppe and Charles Vatu, for their support in making the Football Academy at Teouma available for cricket to use," said VC President, Mark Stafford. "This is a great sign of respect from the VFF to Vanuatu Cricket and I am very grateful for the use of their top class facility. We should't forget the other sponsors namely Hertz Car Rentals and Asco Motors for the use of their vehicles during the camp."

The International Cricket Council (ICC) World Cricket League Division 8 will take place in Samoa from 15-22 September 2012. The ICC World Cricket League Division 8 Competition will be hosted by the Samoa International Cricket Association (SICA), bringing together Norway, Japan, Vanuatu, Ghana, Bhutan, Suriname, Belgium and hosts Samoa for a chance to advance to ICC World Cricket League Division 7.

The final 15 man Digicel Vanuatu Cricket Team will be named on Wednesday 15th August 2012.