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Windies trio give PNG a helping hand

Windies star Dwayne Bravo is assisting Cricket PNG

Bermuda’s cricket rivals Papua New Guinea will receive a helping hand from current and former West Indies stars ahead of November’s ICC World Twenty20 Qualifiers in Dubai.Windies trio Dwayne Bravo, Kemar Roach and Richie Richardson will participate in the annual Cricket PNG Don’t drink and Drive Legends Bash in Port Moresby later this week.In another coup for the Oceanian country, Bravo — the West Indies One-Day International skipper — has signed on as a development mentor and ambassador to Cricket PNG.Former Australian Test player and current Cricket PNG CEO Greg Campbell believes the impact of the triumvirate’s visit will be huge.“Papua New Guinea is a cricket-mad nation and our team has historically always looked up to West Indies cricketers,” he said.“In fact, the West Indies were the first international team to tour PNG back in 1975 and our cricketers look to emulate their entertaining style of play and their spirit of the game.”“The atmosphere and excitement in the air that Dwayne Bravo, Kemar Roach and Richie Richardson are coming to town, has been astonishing,” he said.Campbell said that Bravo’s profile, achievements and experience will play a crucial role as PNG enter the most important six months in the ICC Associate member’s history.“We wanted to align our top players with a mentor and a powerful global superstar who could inspire them with his presence and his invaluable international experience and guidance. Dwayne Bravo has achieved incredible heights of success within both West Indies Cricket and on a global scale, and as the current Captain of the West Indies ODI squad, we felt he was the perfect candidate.”Bravo too is excited by the opportunity: “Advancing the game of cricket in developing nations of the world is something I have always wanted to become involved in. A cricketer today is a role model to millions and I wanted to use this opportunity to pass my knowledge, skills and expertise onto promising new talent and use my own experiences and leadership aptitude, to motivate youth across the world.”Bravo’s ambassador role will see him make sponsored visits across schools, academies and rural communities throughout greater Port Moresby.The objective of these visits will be to assist with junior programmes and use cricket as a platform to motivate and inspire PNG youth.Bermuda defeated Papua New Guinea by five-wickets in the ICC World T20 Qualifiers in Dubai in March, 2012.PNG, who are ranked 19th in the world, will compete in the inaugural South Australian Cricket Association (SACA) T20 Premier League that begins this month.They then travel to Dubai for the T20 Qualifiers where a top six finish would see them qualify for the 2014 ICC World T20 in Bangladesh.Bermuda take on PNG in their final qualifying game on November 24.