The Samoan women's national cricket team, nicknamed the ''Nafanua'', represents the

Independent State of Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); a ...

in international

women's cricket Women's cricket is the form of the team sport of cricket when played by women only. It is played at the professional level in multiple countries around the world and 108 national teams participate internationally. 11 of them have WTest and WODI ...

. It is organised by the game's governing body in the country, the Samoa International Cricket Association (SICA). Although women's cricket has a long history in Samoa, the national team was only formally organised in 2010, with assistance from a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

association,

Auckland Cricket The Auckland cricket team represent the Auckland region and are one of six New Zealand domestic first class cricket teams. Governed by the Auckland Cricket Association they are the most successful side having won 28 Plunket Shield titles, ten ...

.(15 March 2012)
"Samoan women preparing for big challenge"
– Auckland Cricket. Retrieved 30 June 2015. The team has often included Samoan expatriate players based in Australia and New Zealand (including some who have played for state or provincial teams), which has presented difficulties in training. Samoa's first regional tournament came later in 2010, and it has since regularly participated in

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 ...

events, generally ranking behind only

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 ...

and

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 ...

in the region. Its most notable achievement is winning the gold medal in the women's tournament 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 ...

. The team is currently coached by Ian West, an Englishman who gained Samoan citizenship through his wife, and subsequently played for the Samoan men's team. , one unofficial ranking system places Samoa 27th in the world, behind

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

. In April 2018, the

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the world governing body of cricket. Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, its members are List of International Cricket Council members, 108 national associations, with 12 List of Internation ...

(ICC) granted full

Women's Twenty20 International Women's Twenty20 International (WT20I) is the shortest form of women's international cricket. A women's Twenty20 International is a 20 overs-per-side cricket match between two of the International Cricket Council (ICC) members. The first Twent ...

(WT20I) status to all its members. Therefore, all

Twenty20 Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have a single innin ...

matches played between Samoa women and another international side since 1 July 2018 has been a full WT20I.

History

Cricket has been played in Samoa since the 19th century, when it was introduced by British traders and missionaries. It flourished despite a ban during the period of the German protectorate, from 1900 to 1914. Historically, the sport has been most popular when played under the modified rules known as ''

kilikiti Kilikiti is one of several forms of the game of cricket. Originating in Samoa (English missionaries introduced their game of cricket in the early 19th century), it spread throughout Polynesia and can now be found around the world in areas with ...

''. However, since the early 2000s, when Samoa gained affiliate membership of the

(ICC) and its men's national team debuted internationally (in 2000 and 2001, respectively), the standard form of cricket has begun to replace ''kilikiti'' in popularity.Andy Bull (27 January 2010)
"Cricket in Samoa: It's just not kilikiti"
– ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''. Retrieved 30 June 2015. The Samoan women's team played its first international matches in February 2010, when

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 ...

toured to play a three-match series at

Apia Apia () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Samoa, as well as the nation's only city. It is located on the central north coast of Upolu, Samoa's second-largest island. Apia falls within the political district (''itūmālō ...

's Faleata Oval (in the

Tuanaimato Tuanaimato is a geographical area near Apia, Samoa. It is the site of the one hundred acre Faleata Sporting Complex which houses, among other facilities, a 12,000 seater soccer stadium (home of Tuanaimato Breeze, a Samoan soccer team), a baseball ...

area).Other women's matches played by Samoa Women
– CricketArchive. Retrieved 30 June. Fiji were also playing their first internationals. A major impetus for the establishment of a woman's team was its status as a requirement for associate membership of the ICC, to which SICA aspires. Samoa, captained by Perelini Mulitalo, went on to win the series 3–0, and consequently qualified as the third team (after

and

) for the 2010 EAP Trophy in Japan, the team's first major tournament. Samoa went on to lose all three of its matches at the EAP Trophy, a 50-over tournament, with their closest game being a 12-run loss to Japan in the qualifying final. Their captain there was Mindy Hodgson, a former representative of the

Wellington Blaze The Wellington Blaze is the women's representative cricket team for the New Zealand city of Wellington. They play their home games at Basin Reserve. They compete in the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield one-day competition and the Women's Super Smas ...

in New Zealand domestic cricket. However, the Samoans were more successful at their next regional tournament, the 2012 EAP Women's Championship in

Port Vila Port Vila (french: Port-Vila), or simply Vila (; french: Vila; bi, Vila ), is the capital and largest city of Vanuatu. It is located on the island of Efate. Its population in the last census (2009) was 44,040, an increase of 35% on the pr ...

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 ...

. That tournament was played using the

format, with the winner progressing to the 2013 World Twenty20 Qualifier in Ireland). The three teams from the 2010 tournament were joined by the

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

, Fiji, and

. Samoa won all of its group-stage matches (played only against the three newcomers), but lost its semi-final against Papua New Guinea, eventually placing third after defeating Vanuatu in the third-place playoff. At the 2014 EAP Women's Championship in Japan (a qualifier for the 2015 World Twenty20 Qualifier), Samoa again placed third after losing a semi-final to Papua New Guinea, with their opponent in the third-place playoff being the Cook Islands. The team's tournament was marked by several instances of individual brilliance, most notably an innings of 104 (from 74 balls) by Moelagi Tuilagi in the playoff, the first century in an EAP Twenty20 event. Samoa's captain,

Auckland Hearts The Auckland Hearts is the women's representative cricket team for the New Zealand region of Auckland. They play their home games at Eden Park Outer Oval. They compete in the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield one-day competition and the Women's Supe ...

player Regina Lili'i, was named both player of the tournament and captain of the team of the tournament. Lili'i was one of three Samoan players with experience in the New Zealand

State League The Hallyburton Johnstone Shield is the premier domestic women's one-day cricket competition in New Zealand. The tournament began in 1935–36, as a first-class competition, but is now played as a 50-over competition, with six provincial teams ...

, the others being Hana Mauafu (

Canterbury Magicians The Canterbury Magicians is the women's representative cricket team for the New Zealand region of Canterbury. They play their home games at Hagley Oval, Christchurch. They compete in the Hallyburton Johnstone Shield one-day competition and the ...

) and

Madeleine Chapman Madeleine Elsie Chapman (born 16 March 1994) is a New Zealand editor, journalist and author, and the current editor of ''The Spinoff'' and former editor of '' North & South''. Chapman co-wrote the autobiography of New Zealand professional basket ...

(

). In July 2015, Samoa won the gold medal in the women's tournament at the

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New Z ...

, becoming the first country outside of Papua New Guinea to win gold in Pacific Games cricket. In December 2020, the ICC announced the qualification pathway for the

2023 ICC Women's T20 World Cup The 2023 ICC Women's T20 World Cup is scheduled to be the eighth edition of ICC Women's T20 World Cup tournament. It is scheduled to be held in South Africa, from 10 to 26 February 2023. Australia are the defending champions. In November 2020, th ...

. Samoa were named in the

2021 ICC Women's T20 World Cup EAP Qualifier The 2021 ICC Women's T20 World Cup EAP Qualifier was a cricket tournament that was scheduled to be played in Samoa in September 2021. The matches would have been played as Women's Twenty20 Internationals (WT20Is), with the top team progressing t ...

regional group, alongside seven other teams.

Tournament history

EAP Women's Championship

* 2010: 3rd place (3 teams) * 2012: 3rd place (6 teams) * 2014: 3rd place (5 teams) *

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

: 2nd place (3 teams)

Pacific Games

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

: Gold medal (6 teams) *

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

: Gold medal (4 teams)

Records and Statistics

International Match Summary — Samoa Women ''Last updated 6 October 2022''

Twenty20 International

*Highest team total: 140/7 v

on 5 October at Vanuatu Cricket Ground,

. *Highest individual innings: 51, Regina Lili'i v

on 12 July 2019 at Faleata Oval No 1,

. *Best innings bowling: 4/9, Ailaoa Aoina v

on 5 October at Vanuatu Cricket Ground,

. Most T20I runs for Samoa Women Most T20I wickets for Samoa Women T20I record versus other nations ''Records complete to WT20I #1262. Last updated 6 October 2022.''

References

{{Women's national cricket teams Women's national cricket teams Cricket, women * Samoa in international cricket Women's sport in Samoa