Samoa cricket coach Murphy Su'a says the Twenty20 format is the ideal way for Pacific countries to make their mark on the sport globally.
Samoa are among the top seven ranked teams in East Asia Pacific who are contesting the Men's Regional T20 Championship in Auckland.
The winner of the five-day event, which starts on Sunday, will advance to a a qualifying tournament in Dubai, which will fill the final place at next year's T20 World Cup in Bangladesh.
Murphy Su'a says the shortened format is one which suits Pacific players and it also offers plenty of opportunities.
"T20, if you win East Asia Pacific, you go into the World group qualifier and that gets you exposed to teams like Ireland, Holland, Scotland and those sort of teams. PNG I think were 4th, 5th or 6th in the last T20 world group qualifier, they got quite close, so definitely is the pathway, if I look at it from a Samoan perspective and also from a Pacific Island perspective as well."
Samoa's first match on Sunday is against Japan.
