The visit by the cricket veterans from Australia is not only helping develop the sport here but is marketing Samoa as a growing sports tourism destination says Samoa International Cricket Association (SICA)

They have received help from cricket veterans from Australia to improve on their skills as they prepare their teams for World Cup qualifiers. 

The Samoa 2023 Australian veterans exotic tour features retired athletes of the sport who visit countries to develop the sport which doubles as a vacation for them.

Chief Executive Officer for SICA Sala Stella Vaea said this was the second time that they had come to Samoa with the first time being in 2016.

“The whole idea is to market Samoa as a sports destination. This group is mainly made up of veteran cricketers aged between 60 to 80 years old,” she said.

“They are here with their families and children. This is like a carnival where everyone comes to play cricket and have fun. This is fantastic for Samoa, not only for Samoa Cricket but it lifts the profile of our sport."

“These people play very good cricket and it’s good for our national players to have that standard of cricket.” 

They are also running coaching courses and umpiring for their junior program for ages five to 16-years-old.

“They will be visiting some of the primary schools this Friday as well as paying a visit to the Samoa Victim Support Group’s Campus of hope. This is a whole 10 days of cricket, tours and exploring Samoa, this is good for the economy," said Sala.

“It is called exotic tours because they won’t only be playing cricket but also touring around our country."

According to the CEO they have wanted to come back but COVID-19 had prevented them from visiting any sooner.

“It was a big success and to have them back speaks of how well it played out back in 2016," she said.

"We managed to secure funding from them to help support the upgrade of our field and our facilities, and get more equipment because this is such an expensive sport.

“We want to make this an annual event and in the month of August, we thank the Samoa Tourism Authority, who have been supporting us through this event and ever since the group got here.”

Team Samoa is bound to improve with the coaching from these veteran players especially for the women’s team who are preparing to go to Vanuatu for the East Asia Pacific Qualifiers and the World Qualifiers.

“It helps them a lot and Tuesday was the first day we had training and we have been getting a lot of positive feedback with how the girls are doing," said Sala.

“It is important that we promote Samoa as a sport’s nation, promote sports tourism and this will help everyone in Samoa especially the economy."