Josefa Falani Rika (9 November 1987 – 3 February 2020) was a
Fiji
Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...
an cricketer who made his debut for the
Fijian national side in June 2006. Beginning in 2010, he captained the side in several international tournaments, and also worked for
Cricket Fiji
Cricket Fiji is the official Sport governing body, governing body of the sport of cricket in Fiji. Its current headquarters is in Suva. The organisation was founded in 1946, as the Fiji Cricket Association, and became an associate member of the I ...
in coaching and development roles.
Biography
Educated at
Lelean Memorial School
Lelean Memorial School is one of the largest co-ed schools in Fiji. It was established in 1943 and is run by the Methodist Church of Fiji and Rotuma. It is co-located at the Davuilevu Methodist Compound with thDavuilevu Theological Collegeand the ...
, Rika made his debut for the
Fijian under-19 team at the
2001 EAP Under-19 Trophy, aged only 13.
[Miscellaneous matches played by Josefa Rika](_blank)
– CricketArchive. Retrieved 26 August 2015. Playing alongside his older brother, Colin, he played in all four matches, but scored only 14 runs and failed to take a wicket. In 2003 and 2005, no separate under-19 tournament was held for
ICC East Asia-Pacific
ICC East Asia-Pacific is the International Cricket Council region responsible for administration of the sport of cricket in East Asia and the Pacific area.
The region was founded in 1996 with a regional office established in 1999. The area cove ...
members, with those teams instead competing alongside teams from the
ICC Africa
The Africa Cricket Association (ACA) is an international body which coordinates the development of cricket in Africa. The ACA was founded in 1997, and has 23 member countries.
The role of the ACA includes promoting the development of cricket in ...
region. In the
2003 combined tournament in Namibia, both Fiji and Rika had little luck with the bat, although Rika took figures of 3/14 against
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
. At the
2005 combined tournament in South Africa, he was Fiji's leading runscorer, finishing with 126 runs. His best was 41, against
Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...
.
The
EAP Under-19 Trophy and
Africa Under-19 Championships were re-established as separate competitions in 2007, with the EAP tournament held in Vanuatu. Appointed Fiji's captain, Rika began the tournament with scores of two against
Vanuatu
Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...
and four against
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
,
but in the following match, against
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, scored a remarkable 257 runs from 145 balls, out of a team total of 440/8. His innings included 37 fours and 9 sixes, including three sixes in consecutive balls at one point. A writer for
ESPNcricinfo
ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a ...
described Rika's innings as "what must rank as one of the most breathtaking knocks in the history of age-group cricket". Fiji again faced Japan in its next match, the third-place playoff, but were set a total of only 36 runs, with Rika scoring another 28 not out from 10 balls. Unsurprisingly, he led the tournament in both
batting average
Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic.
Cricket
In cricket, a player's batting average is ...
and runs scored – the next-best Fijian batsman scored only 50 runs overall.
That 2007 tournament was Rika's last at under-19 level, and he had made his senior debut in the gap between under-19 events, appearing for Fiji in the
2006 EAP Trophy and the
2007 World Cricket League Division Three tournament.
His EAP Trophy had included an innings of 50 not out in the opening match against
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, made from 49 balls. At the
2008 WCL Division Four tournament in Tanzania, Rika was the only Fijian batsman to record more than 100 runs overall, finishing with 194 runs and a batting average of 32.33. His best innings, 62, came in the 5th-place playoff against
Jersey
Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...
, which his team won. However, both teams were relegated to the
2010 Division Five tournament in Nepal. Rika, aged 22 at the time, was appointed Fiji's captain in the place of the injured
Joe Sorovakatini
Joe or JOE may refer to:
Arts
Film and television
* ''Joe'' (1970 film), starring Peter Boyle
* ''Joe'' (2013 film), starring Nicolas Cage
* ''Joe'' (TV series), a British TV series airing from 1966 to 1971
* ''Joe'', a 2002 Canadian animated ...
, and again made his highest score against Jersey, although his innings of 75 from 134 balls was not enough to prevent his side losing. Fiji and Jersey were eventually both relegated again, to the
2011 Division Six event in Malaysia. Again named captain, Rika led Fiji's batting with 185 runs from six innings, and twice scored half-centuries – 55 against
Kuwait
Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...
and 52 against Jersey.
At the
2013 WCL Division Seven tournament in Botswana, Rika scored 76 from 122 balls against
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
, but also recorded two ducks, against
Botswana
Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...
and
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
.
At the end of the tournament, he announced that he would be retiring from playing, despite being only 25. Having served as a development manager with Cricket Fiji since 2010, Rika further involved himself in development roles, going on to coach the Fijian under-19 side at the 2013 EAP Under-19 Trophy. However, in June 2014 he announced that he would come out of retirement and continue playing for Fiji in international tournaments, alongside his development work. Rika captained Fiji at the
2014 EAP Twenty20 Championship and was also appointed for the
2015 WCL Division Six tournament in England.
As Cricket Fiji's high performance manager, he coached the
Fijian women's team at the
2015 Pacific Games
The 2015 Pacific Games, also known as Port Moresby 2015 or POM 2015, was held in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, from 4 to 18 July 2015. It was the fifteenth staging of the Pacific Games as well as the third to be hosted in Port Moresby.
More tha ...
.
[Kalesi Mele (10 June 2015)]
Team banks on overseas-based player
– ''The Fiji Times''. Retrieved 27 August 2015.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rika, Josefa
1987 births
2020 deaths
Fijian cricketers
Place of death missing
People educated at Lelean Memorial School