Nickname(s) | Nafanua | |||||||||
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Association | Samoa International Cricket Association | |||||||||
Personnel | ||||||||||
Captain | Kolotita Nonu | |||||||||
Coach | Gary Wood | |||||||||
International Cricket Council | ||||||||||
ICC status | Associate member[1] (2017) Affiliate member (2000) | |||||||||
ICC region | East Asia-Pacific | |||||||||
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Women's international cricket | ||||||||||
First international | v. Fiji at Apia; 2 February 2010 | |||||||||
Women's Twenty20 Internationals | ||||||||||
First WT20I | v. Fiji at Independence Park, Port Vila; 6 May 2019 | |||||||||
Last WT20I | v. Vanuatu at Lloyd Elsmore Park 2, Auckland; 21 January 2024 | |||||||||
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As of 21 May 2024 |
The Samoan women's national cricket team, nicknamed the Nafanua, represents the country of Samoa in international women's cricket. 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 association, Auckland Cricket.[6] 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.[7] Samoa's first regional tournament came later in 2010, and it has since regularly participated in ICC East Asia-Pacific events, generally ranking behind only Japan and Papua New Guinea in the region. The women's team's most notable achievement has been winning the gold medal in the women's tournament at the 2015 Pacific Games. 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.[8]
In April 2018, the International Cricket Council (ICC) granted full Women's Twenty20 International (WT20I) status to all its members. Therefore, all Twenty20 matches played between Samoa women and another international side since 1 July 2018 have the full WT20I status.[9]