Kaia Arua, the star of PNG women’s team, dies at 33

In extremely sad news coming from the East Pacific Ocean Island of Papua New Guinea (PNG), star allrounder and former captain, Kaia Arua, has passed away at the young age of 33. 

Arua was named in the PNG women’s team (called ‘Lewas’) for Cricket World Cup Qualifiers in 2017 after starting in pathways events in the East-Asia Pacific and Pacific Games cricket. Her journey goes as long back as 2010, when she played in her national colours for the first time against Japan. 

She became a regular captain of the Lewas in 2019 in the East Asia-Pacific T20 World Cup qualifiers. Having been the star bowler of her side for quite some time by then, she helped her side win the tournament and further qualify for the 2019 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier and 2021 ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifier. 

She led PNG in 29 T20Is with official status, and in her career, she won 29 games as a skipper. However, her left-arm wrist spin got her attention in the wider cricketing world, as she took 59 T20I wickets while averaging just 10.2 runs/wicket. No PNG bowler has more wickets. Her bowling figure of 5/7 against Japan still stands as the second best bowling figure for any PNG woman. 

She has also scored 341 runs with the bat at an average of 22.73 for the Lewas. 

Her skills also got noticed by the Fairbreak Invitational T20 tournament, as the Falcons picked her, and got to share a stage with women cricketers from across the globe. She was a pioneer even here, as she became the first PNG woman to be part of the esteemed competition. 

Arua’s mother, Bonnie, also played cricket for the Lewas and was the first-ever wicketkeeper for the national side in 2006. She is the one who took care of Arua’s son, as she spent most of her time touring and playing for the Lewas. Arua was divorced and is also survived by her preadolescent daughter, who lived with her and often tagged along on her practice sessions and games. 

Back in 2019, PNG's women's player Kopi John, also died young at just 25 years of age due to tuberculosis. The ICC's press release which carried the news of Arua's untimely demise, didn't mention the cause of her death.