15 Feb 2014

Sport: Imminent changes a challenge for Cricket PNG

6:40 am on 15 February 2014

Papua New Guinea take on Scotland this evening in their opening match at the Under 19 Cricket World Cup.

Three players back up from the 2012 tournament, including captain Dogodo Bau, but impending changes by the ICC mean that's unlikely to be repeated.

Currently, affiliate countries such as PNG can select under 21 players in under 19 competitions but in future all players have to be 19 or under.

Garamuts coach Rarua Dikana says that puts developing cricket nations like PNG in a tough situation.

"Last year we were able to play Sese Bau, Chris Kent, Charles Amini Jr and Lega Siaka, who are already now playing in the Barramundi's - they were like 20 and 21. Next World Cup will be just 19 year olds so it puts Cricket PNG in a tight situation to dig deep and look around for the Under 17s and Under 15s pretty much to make them ready for the next two World Cup qualifiers, in order to get back into the World Cup".

Pakistan and India also feature in PNG's pool.