Papua New Guinea Women are a team like no other. Krithika V narrates the tale of the group of mothers ready to take on the world.

Hanuabada is located on the outskirts of the national capital of Port Moresby. In Motu, the word ‘Hanuabada’ roughly translates to ‘big village’.

Few cities have produced as high a proportion of cricketers, across genders, in a nation as Hanuabada. Cricket never stops here, explains former head coach Kath Hempenstall: “The brand of cricket they play is raw and exciting. In countries like Australia or England, there is a certain pathway for the game, but here, the players play with more freedom, and their game is more experimental. They have the power to attract the crowd, but sadly, they don’t play a lot.”

A former Victoria and Perth Scorchers cricketer-turned-coach, Hempenstall took over as the head coach of Papua New Guinea Women in 2021. She was supposed to meet the team in Zimbabwe during the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier, but Covid-19 forced cancellation of the tournament, and the wait became longer than expected.

Hempenstall she had to adapt to the Papua New Guinea culture when she was introduced to the team. It was a challenge, considering the players are also shy.

During her coaching stint, PNG featured in the 2022 T20 World Cup Qualifier, where they defeated stronger teams like the Scotland and the USA. They also played two editions of the Pacific T20 Cup against Vanuatu, Samoa and Fiji. They ended unbeaten in both editions.

“The team has a lot of potential, and they showed in the Qualifiers that they can win against teams like Scotland. We encouraged them to play their natural game and understand their individual game better.”

Kath Hempenstall credited former Australian star Julia Price for her role as team mentor: “Julia is probably one of the most knowledgeable leaders at the moment. She has helped me a lot with several things, like how to get the best out of each player, and so on. The team has seen a massive improvement after interacting with her. She is an inspiration and a mentor for budding coaches like me.”

Price also joined the team for a week-long session ahead of their ICC Women’s T20 East Asia Pacific Qualifiers in Vanuatu.

Through their partnership with the Australian Government, Cricket Australia continues to work towards the development of cricket in the Pacific nations of Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu, which allows The Lewas to train with and play against the top Australian clubs.

They participated in the Australian Country Championships in February, alongside six other teams that had top domestic players, including WBBL 8 champion Tegan McPharlin. PNG’s Sibona Jimmy made it to the Team of the Tournament.

Hempenstall is all in praise of her: “Sibona Jimmy is an amazing all-rounder, nobody knows where she gets that power to hit those boundaries and sixes.”

Along with Hollan Doriga, Jimmy featured in Western Australia’s Premier Cricket Tournament in 2022/23. She finished as the leading wicket-taker in the 50-over format with 16 wickets and made 150 runs in seven innings. She had to leave her newborn daughter to take up the scholarship, which paid for the expensive baby products.

“I’m doing every little thing I can for the family,” notes Jimmy, adding how grateful she is for the opportunities.

Jimmy was also a part of Team Sapphires at the Fairbreak Invitational T20: “It was an amazing experience to be a part of a tournament as big as this. I learnt a lot from the senior players. Especially, Shabnim Ismail and Katherine Sciver-Brunt motivated me a lot and helped me to understand their mindset.”

At 20, Doriga is the only breadwinner for the family. She earns from playing cricket. In the 2022 Pacific T20 Cup, Doriga impressed with figures of 5-2 against Fiji. She also scored an unbeaten 30 from just 13 deliveries in that match. Hempenstall calls her “one of PNG’s exciting up-and-coming talents. She is quick for her age and is aggressive with the bat.”

Ravini Oa is PNG’s leading wicket-taker with 49 scalps – at a ridiculous strike rate of 14. A teenage Oa debuted in 2012, years before the country gained international status. She “learnt variations” watching her role model Brett Lee, and also looks up to Ellyse Perry and Lisa Sthalekar.

Oa was offered a WBBL rookie contract with the Adelaide Strikers in 2016/17, where Perry and Sthalekar were in the opposition team. She had the opportunity to meet them and even train with Sthalekar. During her stint, She picked up variations and learnt to play the sweep.

In 2018, she was offered a rookie contract with Perth Scorchers. This time Katherine Sciver-Brunt taught her to bowl yorkers: “I was nervous around all of them but overcame it, and it helped me a lot in my career.”

Today, she is a mother of two, the younger of whom is only three: “It is difficult to leave the kids while going for training, but I’m also thankful for my mother, sisters and the whole family for their whole support.”

Oa played most of her matches alongside Pauke Siaka, who began her career way back in the 2000s, and her first tour was to South Africa in 2008 for the Qualifiers. She also led The Lewas in 2018.

Siaka’s husband, Assad Vala, is also one of the most capped players for the country. The couple has a nine-year-old son. “We are grateful to our family, who are always there and also, the PNG Cricket Board. The board has helped us even in taking care of our son’s transportation,” says Siaka.

In the 2017 World Cup Qualifiers, Siaka picked up six wickets against Scotland and almost scripted history, but Scotland fought back to win that match by seven runs. Six years later, she featured in the side that defeated. “It is a privilege to be a part of the team over the years and nice to see that the team is constantly improving.”

Tanya Ruma, who sealed the win against Scotland with a unbeaten 31-ball 63, has been the top performer for the Lewas in the past few years, especially in 2022. Her 871 runs, in 36 innings, are the most for the Lewas – something she is not concerned about: “I don’t keep track of any of these records. I just want to keep performing.”

Ruma, who debuted in 2012, is also a mother of two, and returned to training a couple of weeks after her younger child was born: “I’m a full-time cricketer, and I support the family through the game. I came back to training two weeks after giving birth. During that time, I used to breastfeed too. I had to stay awake until 3 am and would go back to training early in the morning. It was difficult, but I got through it.”

She was part of the Warriors outfit that won the Fairbreak Invitational T20: “It was a privilege and an honour to be a part of this tournament, where players from all countries come together. It was great to end as the winners.”

Now 30, Ruma says that she has a lot left to achieve in the game: “I’ve been playing the game for 12 years now but I have not achieved any of my goals. I want to be a part of World Cup, WBBL and WPL too.” She is one of the four PNG players to enter the WBBL draft.

Kaia Arua, the current Lewas captain and another WBBL draft entry, boasts of a strong cricketing background. Her mother Bonnie was the first ever wicketkeeper of the national women’s side in 2006. Arua has learnt the game from watching her mother and even alongside her.

Arua also got into that squad, and wanted to leave school and take up the game full-time, but Bonnie ensured her daughter focused on her studies as well. Today, Kaia Arua leads the side, and is a mother of a daughter of eight – who looks up to her mother’s teammate Jimmy – and a son of six.

As Kaia stayed in Port Moresby to train, Bonnie raised the children in the Western Highlands: “My mother has been my biggest support. Even today, she takes care of my kids when I go for training. It has been difficult leaving the kids while training, but I hope one day they will understand. In PNG, we do not earn a lot playing the game, but we earn enough to run the family.”

Kaia was the first PNG cricketer to feature in the Fairbreak Global Invitational T20, for the Falcons, who reached the final twice: “It is a great platform for us to learn. My team consists of legends and I got to interact and learn a lot from them, especially, Marizanne Kapp. I’m proud that in the last edition, we had two more players from PNG. I’m sure there will be many more players from our country soon.”

Arua is leading the Lewas in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup East Asia Pacific Qualifiers from September 1 to 8. There, they will clash with hosts Vanuatu, Fiji, Cook Islands, Indonesia, Japan, and Samoa in a round-robin format. One team will make it to the Global Qualifier of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024.