Cricket in Oceania

[1] The most significant event of the cricketing calendar is the annual tournament on Flag Day (the national holiday), which attracts large numbers of both men's and women's village teams.

The game quickly spread to the outer atolls of Aitutaki and Mangaia, but in the 1950s entered into decline, with only six to eight clubs remaining in Rarotonga.

[5] A revival occurred in the 1990s, and the national governing body, the Cook Islands Cricket Association (CICA), became an affiliate member of the ICC in 2000.

[9] Participation has increased rapidly since then,[10] and the CICA has won an ICC development award for its work in promoting the game amongst women.

[12][13] Cricket was introduced to the Fijian Islands in 1874, during the time of the short-lived Kingdom of Fiji, when a team from Levuka played against a visiting Royal Navy ship.

Plans to field a national team have been hampered by the lack of a dedicated ground and the frequent movement of players in and out of the country.

[21] According to the 1997 Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, a Kiribati representative team had toured Tuvalu in a fixture earlier in the 1990s, winning the match after their last batsman hit a six off the final ball.

[23] One of these, dating from 1908 (during the period of the German protectorate), depicts Europeans and Nauruans playing together on a pitch surrounded by palm trees (watched on from a makeshift pavilion), and is titled "1st Match at Nauru".

[24] During the time of the British Phosphate Commission, cricket was cited by Australian newspapers as a key part of social life in the island.

A 2011 Radio New Zealand article made reference to a Niue Cricket Association, and mentioned that a league had recently been established featuring ten village teams.

[35] A 1957 National Geographic profile of the island noted that women-only matches were played, and featured a photograph of a game in progress on a matting pitch, with palm trees marking the boundary.

He praised the islanders' skills, especially their bowling and throwing, but noted that there were difficulties in obtaining equipment and finding room to play.

The team participated in the cricket tournament at the 1991 South Pacific Games in Papua New Guinea, and won at least one match (against New Caledonia).

A national governing body, the Solomon Islands Cricket Association, was formed in 2000,[39] at which point there were estimated to be only 18–20 indigenous players remaining (with the rest being expatriates from cricket-playing countries).

[40] A four-team league was established in Honiara in 2009, with support from AusAID (the Australian government's overseas aid program) .

[c] In Tokelau, a territory of New Zealand, kilikiti is the only form of cricket played, and has been cited as the "favourite community sport".

Although the sport was introduced to Nukunonu first, in the 1890s, the local pitch was created only in the 1960s, by filling in a saltwater lagoon with baskets of coral gravel.