The Pacific Games were first held in 1963. Cricket was introduced in the Pacific Games in 1979 and was played at irregular intervals till the early 1990s. The records of the first three editions of cricket at the Pacific Games are hazy.
From 2003, cricket has been played in each edition of the Pacific Games till 2019. In 2023, the sport was dropped from the Game’s roster. This is likely because of the progressive dip in the number of participants in the sport. At least five teams participated in the event consistently till 2011. But from the 2015 games onwards, this number was restricted to four. It is notable to mention that in the 2015 and 2019 editions, a women’s event was also held.
The cricket teams that have participated in the Pacific Games so far are Papa New Guinea, Fiji, Samoa, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Cook Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Solomon Islands. The format of the event sees each team plays the other in a round-robin format. Teams earn two points for a win, one for a tie or no result, and zero for a loss. The top two teams at the end of the league stage contest the final. Teams placed third and fourth contest the bronze medal match.
Both editions of the women’s event have been won by Samoa. The men’s event has been dominated by Papa New Guinea. Out of the eight editions held this far, Papa New Guinea has bagged the gold medals seven times. In the one instance when they didn’t win the gold medal, they lost the final to Vanuatu in 2015. Fiji has won the silver medal on five occasions. Tonga, Vanuatu, and Samoa have won the bronze medal twice each.
It is notable to mention that each match from the 2019 edition were officially recognised by the International Cricket Council. However, the T20 International matches featuring New Caledonia were not sanctioned as they are not an Associate member of the International Cricket Council.
