Vanuatu Cricket

The group received their second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine in Port Vila on Wednesday.

Over 30,000 people in Vanuatu have received at least one dose of the vaccine in and the Vanuatu Cricket players and staff are amongst the first 2000 people in the country who are now fully vaccinated.

Vanuatu Cricket President Mark Stafford said taking the vaccine was the socially responsible action to take and players and staff are committed to protecting themselves, their friends, family, colleagues, and the wider community.

He has completed a staggering 30 years as President of Vanuatu Cricket Association (VCA), after being appointed in 1991. He is also the VCA Director of Finance and sits on the ICC Chief Executive Committee (CEC), as one of the three Associate member representatives.

In a compelling interview on the Emerging Cricket Podcast, Stafford spoke about his tenure as VCA President, the rise of Vanuatu cricket as well as his personal recommendations to the ICC for more Associate-friendly policies.

As Ifira claimed a 3 run win against Black Sands, Eratap women were also hard at work in the 3rd place play off against Imaki which saw them steal the victory by one (1) run.

Bella Laban from team Ifira claimed the player of the grand final award for her 33 runs contribution with the bat and Elisa Kalosin won best batter award for her batting in the third place play off.

The Women’s Island Cricket programme is facilitated through the Vanuatu Cricket’s social impact and inclusion programme with funding from the Australian Government through the team up programme.

In the men’s first division matches, Powerhouse Panthers beat Mighty Saints by 6 wickets.

The team grabbed 70 runs in 5 overs with the Mighty Saints with 68 runs in 6 overs last weekend.

Powerhouse Panthers, Joshua Rasu made the most runs with 21 runs. Mighty Saints, Selwyn Garae had the most runs with 18 runs.

The second match was between two rivals Splash Mele Bulls and Paama Sharks, who battled it out in the recent T20 championship.

Paama Sharks looked determined and focused as they beat the T20 defending champion by 138 runs in 4 overs.

“My initial weeks and months will be spent conducting an operational review, allowing us to get on top of any pressing issues that require action, while also ensuring our systems and processes are ‘fit-for-purpose’ as we look to finalise a bold long-term strategy for release in the next few months,” Cutler said.

He said he is here for the long haul to help cricket reach its true potential.

Cutler is the Former Hong Kong Cricket boss

He led Hong Kong Cricket from 2015 to 2017 before founding the Emerging Cricket platform.

Gibson Tari will be responsible for developing cricket in Malekula and Daniel Naies is the development officer in Tanna.

Vanuatu Cricket’s Human Resource Officer, Jamal Vira said the appointments will be able to progress cricket in the two areas.

“The idea is to develop young cricketers to a level where they can be scouted for the high performance set up and better yet grow the sport of cricket in the outer islands and use Vanuatu Cricket’s platform for positive social change in our communities through cricket.”

Mark Stafford, President of the VCA announced the appointment stating the VCA’s ambition to remain the leading national sport federation in Vanuatu and Cutler’s experience with cricket and the wider corporate world as the best fit to take over from Shane Deitz and continue to move Vanuatu Cricket forward.

“The Vanuatu Cricket Board would like to congratulate Tim Cutler as the new CEO for the Vanuatu Cricket Association. The VCA has a strong vision for the future and require a well experienced person to lead the operations of the Association to achieve our ambitions.

Deitz, now CEO of the Pacific nation’s cricket federation but himself soon to move in the opposite direction as women’s coach in the Netherlands, has achieved a great deal in Vanuatu cricket, bringing the men’s side as far as the ICC Challenge League, while Bray has had a similar impact on Denmark’s high performance pathway.

Born and raised in Sydney, Bray toured New Zealand with Australia’s Under-19 side in 1992/93, and also played in the New South Wales Second XI and once for the full side, in a tour match against New Zealand.

Deitz is ending six years of his service to the association as High Performance Manager and Head Coach before his current position.

Deitz has played a pivotal role in the Men’s gold medal win at the 2015 Pacific Games and the men’s and women’s teams obtaining their highest global rankings with both teams now ranked in the world’s top 30.

Deitz will take up his new role of Head Coach position of the Netherland’s Women’s Cricket team.

The Australian Government through Pacific Sports Partnership programme funds the activities.

In a recent press release, it stated that the purpose of the programme is to give women in the communities the opportunity to learn different sets of life skills and enable them to experience different types of physical activities outside of cricket.

The VCA’s WICP officer, Lucien Tulangi said the programme will contribute to improving the lives of the women in the communities.