John Ovia (born 16 July 1976) is a Papua New Guinean cricketer.Cricinfo profile A right-handed batsman and right-arm off spin bowler,Cricket Archive profile he has played for the Papua New Guinea national cricket team since the 1997 ICC Trophy.Teams played for by John Ovia at CricketArchive His wife Hebou Morea has played for the Papua New Guinea women's team.Hebou Morea at Cricket Archive
Career
Born on 16 July 1976 in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, Ovia first played for Papua New Guinea in the 1997 ICC Trophy. On his debut against Italy,ICC Trophy matches played by John Ovia at Cricket Archive he scored 94 runs and won the man of the match as Papua New Guinea won the match by 101 runs.Scorecard of Italy v Papua New Guinea, 26 March 1997 at Cricket Archive He played in four more matches in the tournament, including the 13th place play-off against Singapore, which Papua New Guinea won.Scorecard of Papua New Guinea v Singapore, 5 April 1997 at Cricket Archive The following year, he played in the ACC Trophy against Singapore and Malaysia.Other matches played by John Ovia at Papua New Guinea
In 2001, he represented his country in the Pacifica Cup, taking 3/31 in the third place play-off against Tonga to secure the third place spot in the tournament. This was followed by his second ICC Trophy, the 2001 tournament in Canada. In 2002, he played in the second Pacifica Cup, top scoring in the final against Tonga to help Papua New Guinea win the tournament.Scorecard of Papua New Guinea v Tonga, 5 June 2002 at Cricket Archive The following year, he played in the cricket tournament at the 2003 South Pacific Games, top-scoring in the final against Fiji to pick up a gold medal.Scorecard of Fiji v Papua New Guinea, 9 August 2003 at SportingPulse The following year, he represented a combined East Asia/Pacific team in the Australian national country championships, and has played in the tournament every year since.
In 2005, he played for Papua New Guinea at the repêchage tournament for the 2005 ICC Trophy. Papua New Guinea beat Fiji in the final,Scorecard of Fiji v Papua New Guinea, 27 February 2005 to qualify for the 2005 ICC Trophy in Ireland, where Ovia made his List A debut against the Netherlands.List A matches played by John Ovia at Cricket Archive
In 2007, Ovia played for Papua New Guinea at Division Three of the World Cricket League in Darwin, Australia.Squads for 2007 ICC World Cricket League Division Three at CricketEurope He most recently played for them in the cricket tournament at the 2007 South Pacific Games, though he missed Papua New Guinea's record-breaking winPapua New Guinea run riot by Andrew Nixon, 1 September 2007 at CricketEurope over New Caledonia, picking up a second South Pacific Games gold medal.2007 South Pacific Games cricket tournament at CricketEurope
References