Assad Vala

Assad Vala (born 5 August 1987) is a Papua New Guinean cricketer and the captain of the national side.[1][2] A left-handed batsman and off spin bowler, he has played for the Papua New Guinea national cricket team since 2005.[3]

Assad Vala
Personal information
Full name
Asadollah Vala
Born (1987-08-05) 5 August 1987
Papua New Guinea
BattingLeft-handed
BowlingRight-arm off break
RelationsPauke Siaka (spouse)
International information
National side
ODI debut (cap 10)8 November 2014 v Hong Kong
Last ODI5 April 2023 v Canada
ODI shirt no.13
T20I debut (cap 9)15 July 2015 v Ireland
Last T20I21 September 2023 v Hong Kong
Career statistics
Competition ODI T20I FC LA
Matches 66 43 7 101
Runs scored 2,003 839 700 2,986
Batting average 30.81 23.97 63.63 30.78
100s/50s 1/12 0/6 3/3 2/18
Top score 104 93* 144* 105*
Balls bowled 2,388 389 341 2,702
Wickets 55 27 5 69
Bowling average 28.70 15.81 33.20 26.24
5 wickets in innings 0 0 0 0
10 wickets in match 0 0 0 0
Best bowling 3/17 3/7 2/80 3/17
Catches/stumpings 34/– 19/– 6/– 46/–
Source: Cricinfo, 21 September 2023
Medal record
Representing  Papua New Guinea
Men's Cricket
Pacific Games
Gold medal – first place2019 ApiaTwenty20 International

Early career

Born in Papua New Guinea in 1987,[3] Assad Vala first represented Papua New Guinea at Under-19 level, playing in the 2004 Under-19 World Cup in Bangladesh.[4] He made his debut for the senior side at the 2005 ICC Trophy in Ireland, where he played seven List A matches.[5]

He returned to Under-19 level later in the year, playing in the Africa/East Asia-Pacific Under-19 Championship at Willowmoore Park in Benoni, South Africa. In 2006, he played for a combined East Asia Pacific team in the Australian National Country Cricket Championship, an event he has repeated in 2007 and 2008.[4]

In 2007, he played in Division Three of the World Cricket League in Darwin and he represented his country at the 2007 South Pacific Games,[4] where he won a gold medal in the cricket tournament.[6]

International career

He made his One Day International (ODI) debut for Papua New Guinea on 8 November 2014 against Hong Kong in Australia.[7] He made his Twenty20 International debut for Papua New Guinea against Ireland in the 2015 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier tournament on 15 July 2015.[8]

In June 2015 on his first-class cricket debut, he scored a match-winning 124 not out for Papua New Guinea against the Netherlands in the 2015–17 ICC Intercontinental Cup.[9] He scored three hundreds in his first four matches, also making centuries against Ireland (120) and Namibia (144 not out).[10]

In February 2018, the International Cricket Council (ICC) named Vala as one of the ten players to watch ahead of the 2018 Cricket World Cup Qualifier tournament.[11] In June 2018, at the Papua New Guinea Cricket Awards, he won the Tony Elly Medal for the best male player.[12]

In August 2018, he was named as the captain of Papua New Guinea's squad for Group A of the 2018–19 ICC World Twenty20 East Asia-Pacific Qualifier tournament.[13] He was the leading run-scorer in Group A of the tournament, with 294 runs in six matches.[14] In March 2019, he was named as the captain of Papua New Guinea's squad for the Regional Finals of the 2018–19 ICC World Twenty20 East Asia-Pacific Qualifier tournament.[15] The following month, he was named captain of Papua New Guinea's squad for the 2019 ICC World Cricket League Division Two tournament in Namibia.[16]

In June 2019, he was selected to represent the Papua New Guinea cricket team in the men's tournament at the 2019 Pacific Games.[17] In September 2019, Vala was named as the captain of Papua New Guinea's squad for the 2019 United States Tri-Nation Series.[18] In the final match of the series, against Namibia, he scored his first century in ODI cricket, with 104 runs from 114 balls.[19]

In September 2019, he was named as the captain of Papua New Guinea's squad for the 2019 ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier tournament in the United Arab Emirates.[20][21] Ahead of the tournament, the International Cricket Council (ICC) named him as the key player in Papua New Guinea's squad.[22] He was the leading run-scorer for Papua New Guinea in the tournament, with 197 runs in eight matches.[23]

In November 2020, Vala was nominated for the ICC Men's Associate Cricketer of the Decade award.[24] In August 2021, Vala was named as the captain of Papua New Guinea's squad for the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup.[25]

References
  1. "Assad Vala". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  2. "PNG squad for Inter-continental Cup match against Namibia". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  3. CricketArchive profile
  4. Other matches played by Asad Vala Archived 18 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine at CricketArchive
  5. List A matches played by Asad Vala at CricketArchive
  6. Points table for the 2007 South Pacific Games cricket tournament at CricketArchive
  7. "Hong Kong tour of Australia, 1st ODI: Papua New Guinea v Hong Kong at Townsville, Nov 8, 2014". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  8. "ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier, 23rd Match, Group A: Ireland v Papua New Guinea at Belfast, Jul 15, 2015". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
  9. "ICC Intercontinental Cup, Netherlands v Papua New Guinea at Amstelveen, Jun 16-18, 2015". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  10. "ICC Intercontinental Cup Results". ESPNCricinfo. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  11. "10 stars to look out for at CWCQ". International Cricket Council. 27 February 2018. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
  12. "Assad Vala, Pauke Siaka win top PNG Cricket awards". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  13. "Squads and fixtures announced for 2020 ICC World T20 - EAP Group 'A' 2018". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
  14. "ICC World Twenty20 East Asia-Pacific Region Qualifier A, 2018, Most Runs". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  15. "Squads and Fixtures Announced for 2020 ICC Men's T20 World Cup EAP Final 2019". Cricket Philippines. Retrieved 22 March 2019.
  16. "Barras on a mission". The National (Papua New Guinea). Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  17. "Athlete List for Samoa 2019 Pacific Games". Pacific Games Council. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
  18. "First One Day International to be played in USA". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
  19. "Vala century in vain as Namibia see off PNG". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
  20. "Barras named for qualifiers". The National. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  21. "Captains enthusiastic ahead of ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier 2019". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  22. "Team preview: Papua New Guinea". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  23. "ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier, 2019/20 - Papua New Guinea: Batting and bowling averages". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  24. "ICC Awards of the Decade announced". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  25. "Papua New Guinea unveil T20 World Cup squad". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
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