Cricket at the Pacific Games

A cricket tournament at the Pacific Games, previously the South Pacific Games, was introduced in 1979 and was played intermittently at games in the 1980s and 1990s, depending on the facilities of the host nation. Since 2003, cricket has featured at every Pacific Games. Detailed records of the tournaments prior to 2003 have not been kept and beyond knowing what teams won the gold and silver medals at each Games, little is known with certainty of the first three tournaments.[1]

Performance by team

Legend

Men's tournament

Team* Games Total
Fiji
1979		 New Caledonia
1987		 Papua New Guinea
1991		 Fiji
2003		 Samoa
2007		 New Caledonia
2011		 Papua New Guinea
2015		 Tonga
2019‡
 Cook Islands — — — 3rd — — — — 1
 Fiji 3rd 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd 2nd — — 6
 New Caledonia 6th 4th 5th 6th 5th 4th 4th — 7
 Papua New Guinea 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 1st 2nd — 7
 Samoa † 5th — — 4th 3rd — — — 3
 Solomon Islands — — GSd — — — — — 1
 Tonga 4th — — — 4th — 3rd — 3
 Tuvalu 7th — — — — — — — 1
 Vanuatu † 2nd 3rd GSd 5th — 3rd 1st — 6

Women's tournament

Team* Games Total
Papua New Guinea
2015		 Tonga
2019‡
 Cook Islands 5th — 1
 Fiji 3rd — 1
 New Caledonia 6th — 1
 Papua New Guinea 2nd — 1
 Samoa 1st— 1
 Solomon Islands — — 0
 Tonga — — 0
 Tuvalu — — 0
 Vanuatu 4th — 1

Results

1979

Venue: Suva, Fiji

Seven teams contested the first cricket tournament at the South Pacific Games:[2]

Rank Team Refs
1st  Papua New Guinea a
2nd New Hebrides
3rd  Fiji
4  Tonga
5  Western Samoa b
6  New Caledonia
7  Tuvalu

1987

Venue: Nouméa, New Caledonia

Rank Team Refs
1st  Papua New Guinea c
2nd  Fiji
3rd  Vanuatu
4  New Caledonia

1991

Venue: Port Moresby/Lae, Papua New Guinea

Rank Team Refs
1st  Papua New Guinea d
2nd  Fiji
3rd
4		  Solomon Islands OR Vanuatu
 Vanuatu OR Solomon Islands
5  New Caledonia

2003

Venue: Suva, Fiji

2007

Venue: Apia, Samoa

Round robin tournament of limited overs cricket (maximum 50 overs per side).

2011

Venue: Noumea, New Caledonia

In 2011 the format was switched to the shorter Twenty20 game instead of the previous 50 over cricket. A round-robin stage was played before the two top teams met in the final.

2015

Venue: Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

In 2015, a women's tournament was held for the first time alongside the men's tournament. The 20-over format was retained.

2019

Tonga included both men's and women's cricket in its successful bid for the 2019 Pacific Games, to be held in Nukuʻalofa.[8]

Pacific Mini Games

For the first time, Vanuatu included a men's cricket tournament in its successful bid for the 2017 Pacific Mini Games, to be held in Port Vila.[9] The cricket facilities near Korman Stadium are planned to be renovated before the tournament.[10] However, the effects of Cyclone Pam in 2015 have, according to some sources, cast doubt upon the country's ability to host the games.[11]

Records

As detailed results have not been kept for the first three tournaments,[1] it is not possible to present detailed records. What is known is that Papua New Guinea's total of 572/7 against New Caledonia is the highest team total in any international one-day match, along with the winning margin of 510 runs, and therefore also in the South Pacific Games.[12]

Notes

^* The number of teams at the tournaments has varied – there were seven teams in 1979,[13] then four in 1987 and five in 1991.[1] When the sport resumed at the 2003 games, six teams contested,[5] but this number dropped to five in 2007 and four in 2011 and 2015 (for the men's tournament – the women's tournament had six teams).[6]

^† Samoa and Vanuatu competed as Western Samoa and the New Hebrides, respectively, at the 1979 games.[13]

^‡ The qualification process for the 2019 Pacific Games in Nukuʻalofa, Tonga, is yet to be decided, but men's and women's cricket tournaments have both been confirmed.[8]

^a 1979: Pacific Islands Monthly reported Papua New Guinea defeating New Hebrides in the final to win gold, passing the required total of 53 with the loss of only one wicket.[2] Fiji defeated Tonga in a much closer third place play-off to win bronze by two wickets, passing the formidable total set by Tonga of 183 for the loss of six wickets.[2]

^b 1979: Roy Morgan's Encyclopedia of World Cricket indicates that Western Samoa finished fifth at the 1979 South Pacific Games.[1] They played New Caledonia in the fifth place play-off so New Caledonia are assumed to have finished sixth. Tuvalu finished seventh.[1]

^c 1987: Roy Morgan's Encyclopedia of World Cricket indicates that Papua New Guinea defeated Fiji in the final to decide the gold and silver medals. The other three teams taking part were New Caledonia, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. The same book indicates that New Caledonia have never won an international match, so they are assumed to have finished fifth with either the Solomon Islands or Vanuatu winning the bronze or finishing fourth.[1]

^d 1991: Roy Morgan's Encyclopedia of World Cricket indicates that Papua New Guinea defeated Fiji in the final to decide the gold and silver medals, and that the only other two teams in the tournament were New Caledonia and Vanuatu. The same book indicates that New Caledonia have never won an international match, so Vanuatu are assumed to have won the bronze medal.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Encyclopedia of World Cricket by Roy Morgan, Sportsbooks Publishing, 2007
  2. 1 2 3 "Last of the Super Games/The Medal Winners" (PDF 0.8 MB). Pacific Island Monthly 50 (10): 16. 1979. Retrieved 5 November 2015.
  3. 1 2 Scorecard of Fiji v Papua New Guinea, 9 August 2003 at tournament's official website
  4. 1 2 Scorecard of Cook Islands v Samoa, 9 August 2003 at tournament's official website
  5. 1 2 3 2003 South Pacific Games cricket tournament official website
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 2007 South Pacific Games at CricketEurope
  7. ↑ Sporting Pulse, 2011.
  8. 1 2 Tongan bid for the 2019 Games, Pacific Games Council
  9. ↑ Republic of Vanuatu bid to host the Pacific Mini Games 2017. Retrieved from Sporting Pulse, 8 July 2015.
  10. ↑ (22 September 2014). "Vanuatu sports facilities set for an overhaul for 2017 Pacific Mini Games" – Radio Australia. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  11. ↑ (23 March 2015). "Cyclone Pam puts 2017 Vanuatu Mini Games in doubt" – Radio New Zealand International. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  12. ↑ Papua New Guinea run riot by Andrew Nixon, 1 September 2007 at CricketEurope
  13. 1 2 1979 South Pacific Games at CricketArchive
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, December 01, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.