The Papua New Guinea women's national cricket team, nicknamed the Lewas, represents the country of
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...
in international
women's cricket
Women's cricket is the team sport of cricket when played by woman, women. Its
Laws of cricket, rules are almost identical to those in the game played by men, the main change being the use of a smaller cricket ball, ball. Women's cricket is b ...
. The team is organised by
Cricket PNG, an associate member of the
International Cricket Council
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the global Sports governing body, governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from Australia, England, and South Africa. In 1965, the body wa ...
(ICC).
Papua New Guinea has been the leading women's associate team in the
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; Oceania. The ICC EAP was founded in 1996. It is subordinate to the International Cricket ...
(EAP) since its international debut in 2006. It has represented EAP at the
50-Over World Cup Qualifier and
T20 World Cup Qualifier on a number of occasions, making the semi-finals of the
2018
Events January
* January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency.
* January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...
and
2019 T20 World Cup Qualifiers. It was awarded
One Day International
One Day International (ODI) is a format of cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of fifty overs, with the game lasting up to 7 hours. The World Cup, generally held every four yea ...
(ODI) status in 2022.
History
Papua New Guinea made its international debut in September 2006, playing a three-match series against
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
to determine which team would represent the
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; Oceania. The ICC EAP was founded in 1996. It is subordinate to the International Cricket ...
(EAP) region at the
2008 World Cup Qualifier.
[Other women's matches played by Papua New Guinea women](_blank)
– CricketArchive. Retrieved 26 November 2015. Papua New Guinea won the series against Japan three–nil, but at the World Cup Qualifier won only two matches, both against
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest.
Bermuda is an ...
.
The team failed to qualify for either the
2011 World Cup Qualifier or the
2013 World Twenty20 Qualifier, with Japan representing the EAP region on both occasions.
[Women's Twenty20 matches played by Papua New Guinea women](_blank)
– CricketArchive. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
At the
2015 Pacific Games, which Papua New Guinea hosted,
a women's cricket event was included for the first time. The team narrowly lost to
Samoa
Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...
in the final, having been undefeated up to that point.
Later in the year, Papua New Guinea participated at its second global tournament, the
2015 World Twenty20 Qualifier, placing fifth out of eight teams.
In April 2018, the ICC granted full
Women's Twenty20 International (WT20I) status to all its members. Therefore, all
Twenty20
Twenty20 (abbreviated T20) is a shortened format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the county cricket, inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two t ...
matches played between Papua New Guinea women and other international sides since 1 July 2018 are eligible for WT20I status.
The team played its first
WT20I match against
Bangladesh
Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...
on 7 July 2018 at
VRA Cricket Ground,
Amstelveen
Amstelveen () is a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland, Netherlands, with a population of 95,996 as of 202 ...
in
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
in the
2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 Qualifier
The 2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 Qualifier was an international women's cricket tournament held from 7 to 14 July 2018 in the Netherlands. It was the third edition of the Women's World Twenty20 Qualifier and was the qualification tournament ...
.
In December 2020, the ICC announced the qualification pathway for the
2023 ICC Women's T20 World Cup. Papua New Guinea were named in the
2021 ICC Women's T20 World Cup EAP Qualifier regional group, alongside seven other teams. However, in August 2021, the
International Cricket Council
The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the global Sports governing body, governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from Australia, England, and South Africa. In 1965, the body wa ...
(ICC) confirmed that the tournament had been cancelled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, and due to their ranking, Papua New Guinea qualified for the
global qualifier held in 2022.
In October 2021, it was reported that Australian
Kath Hempenstall had been appointed head coach of the Lewas in preparation for the
2021 Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier in
Zimbabwe
file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map
Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...
, and it was expected that Hempenstall would meet the team in person for the first time there. However, on 8 November 2021, Papua New Guinea announced that they had been forced to withdraw due to several players recording positive tests for COVID-19.
In May 2022, the ICC announced Papua New Guinea as one of five women's sides to gain
Women's One Day International (ODI) status.
The team played its first
WODI match against
Zimbabwe
file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map
Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...
on 24 March 2024 at the
Harare Sports Club,
Harare
Harare ( ), formerly Salisbury, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of , a population of 1,849,600 as of the 2022 Zimbabwe census, 2022 census and an estimated 2,487,209 people in its metrop ...
during their
tour of Zimbabwe.
Current squad
This lists all the players who were named in the PNG squad for
2024 Netherlands Women's Tri-Nation Series. ''Updated on 15 August 2024.''
Tournament history
Women's T20I Pacific Cup
*
2022
The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...
: Winners
*
2024
The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...
: Winners
ICC Women's T20 World Cup Qualifier
*
2015
2015 was designated by the United Nations as:
* International Year of Light
* International Year of Soil __TOC__
Events
January
* January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
: 5th (DNQ)
*
2018
Events January
* January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency.
* January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...
: 4th (DNQ)
*
2019
This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year.
Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...
: 4th (DNQ)
*
2022
The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...
: 5th (DNQ)
Pacific Games
*
2019
This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year.
Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...
: 2nd
Records and statistics
International Match Summary — Papua New Guinea Women
''Last updated 17 June 2025''
One-Day Internationals
*Highest team total: 196 v.
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
on 6 August 2024 at
Sportpark Maarschalkerweerd,
Utrecht
Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...
.
*Highest individual score: 80
*,
Tanya Ruma v.
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
on 11 April 2024 at
ICC Academy Ground,
Dubai
Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
.
*Best innings bowling: 4/19,
Vicky Ara'a v.
Zimbabwe
file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map
Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...
on 26 March 2024 at
Harare Sports Club,
Harare
Harare ( ), formerly Salisbury, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of , a population of 1,849,600 as of the 2022 Zimbabwe census, 2022 census and an estimated 2,487,209 people in its metrop ...
.
ODI record versus other nations
''Records complete to WODI #1400. Last updated 11 August 2024.''
Twenty20 International
*Highest team total: 219/5 v.
Fiji
Fiji, 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 of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...
on 3 October 2022 at
Independence Park Ground 2,
Port Vila
Port Vila ( ; ), or simply Vila (), is the capital of Vanuatu and its largest city. It is on the island of Efate, in Shefa Province.
The population was 49,034 as of the 2020 census. In 2020, the population of Port Vila formed 16.3% of the ...
.
*Highest individual innings: 88
*,
Naoani Vare v.
Fiji
Fiji, 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 of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...
on 5 October 2022 at
Vanuatu Cricket Ground,
Port Vila
Port Vila ( ; ), or simply Vila (), is the capital of Vanuatu and its largest city. It is on the island of Efate, in Shefa Province.
The population was 49,034 as of the 2020 census. In 2020, the population of Port Vila formed 16.3% of the ...
.
*Best innings bowling: 5/2,
Hollan Doriga v.
Fiji
Fiji, 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 of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...
on 3 October 2022 at
Vanuatu Cricket Ground (Oval 2),
Port Vila
Port Vila ( ; ), or simply Vila (), is the capital of Vanuatu and its largest city. It is on the island of Efate, in Shefa Province.
The population was 49,034 as of the 2020 census. In 2020, the population of Port Vila formed 16.3% of the ...
.
Most T20I runs for PNG Women
Most T20I wickets for PNG Women
T20I record versus other nations
''Records complete to WT20I #2376. Last updated 17 June 2025.''
See also
*
List of Papua New Guinea women ODI cricketers
*
List of Papua New Guinea women Twenty20 International cricketers
References
Further reading
*
*
{{National sports teams of Papua New Guinea
Cricket in Papua New Guinea
Cricket, women's
Women's national cricket teams
Women
A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl.
Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional u ...
2006 establishments in Papua New Guinea
Women's sport in Papua New Guinea