27 Dec 2013

Sport: Fiji Cricket targets youth to help it return to the top

8:41 am on 27 December 2013

After a year in which Fiji were eliminated from the World Cricket League, the country is taking a long-term approach in their efforts to return to the international arena.

The Fiji men's team missed out on promotion to World Cricket League 6 earlier this year and with divisions seven and eight no longer existing, the national team has a bare schedule over the next couple of years.

The General Manager of Fiji Cricket, Inoke Lesuma, says that means all their focus must go on developing the next generation of Fiji internationals.

One of those is teenager Saimoni Tuitoga who, along with High Performance Manager Joe Rika, will travel to Wellington next month to take part in the New Zealand Under 17 Championships.

Inoke Lesuma says such opportunities are ideal for testing the country's up and comers.

"Saimoni is still 15 going onto 16, hopefully he can perform in that age group competition in New Zealand and get the experience, and also for our coach it will be good exposure."

Inoke Lesuma.