Event Book - Full

OCEAN 12 CRICKET TEAM
Ocean12 Cricket Team is a very successful team of Tamil refugees and asylum-seekers in Sydney. The team just
won the Championship of the Last Man Stands Australian Open 2016 held at Gold Coast in November 2016. In the
International ranking, among 99, 100, 208 batsmen, Suthakar Senathipillai is ranked #12 and Donald Redol is
ranked at #81 in the world. Ocean12 Team is ranked #1 in Sydney, #3 in Australia and #12 in the World! Formed in
2013, it is a brainchild of Mrs Noeline Nagle of the Blue Mountains Refugee Support Group.
Ocean12 Team played its first match exactly
3 years ago with 'whoever available', but lost
that match. More players were recruited and
their strengths and capabilities were
recognised. The 'real Ocean12' started its
march in December 2013. Although they lost
odd matches here and there, it was clear that
the team was something special. With the
patronage of Noeline Nagle, other pillars of
the team are Bala Vigneswaran
(Facilitator/Coordinator),
Sivarasa
Manmatharasa (Team Manager) and
Suthakar Rajaguru Senathipillay (Team
Captain).
Cricket is an integral part of the lives of young men from Indian sub-continent. Here, it not only lets the recently
arrived young men socialise among themselves, but also provides them with the most needed interaction with the
young people in the new country. The playing environment encourages them to speak English and to integrate with
mainstream Australians and to become comfortable with the Australian culture. The players in the other teams also
get an opportunity to meet and interact with the newly arrived Tamils. These interactions are critically important, as
these personal experiences will facilitate a better understanding among the young people to build a better
Australia. Cricket gives the new arrivals a healthy distraction from the stresses and keeps them out of trouble.
Besides numerous Parramatta Championships, Ocean12 won the Sydney Championship in March 2015 and in
April 2016. The team travelled to Gold Coast in 2015 for the Australian Championship and performed exceptionally
well, but missed the opportunity to reach the semi-final by just 4 runs. But, everyone involved was determined to
make the best possible impression in 2016. The players put their best effort throughout the tournament and won
the National Championship in 2016. Ocean12 was featured in ABC, SBS, Channel 9, Sydney Morning Herald,
BBC, Al Jazeera and a host of local papers, magazines. Numerous summaries on Ocean12 could be found in
Tamil, English and other languages in internet news and sports sites.
Hon Julia Finn (State MP for Granville) and Hon Julie Owens (MP for Parramatta) spoke on Ocean12 in the State
and Federal parliaments. If everything goes well in the financial front (need to pool thousands of dollars) and visas,
the team can travel to play in Cape Town, South Africa, in the Global Open 2017.
As a team of asylum-seekers and
refugees with limited financial sources,
they run with small sponsorships and
individual contributions. Team
appreciates all those people, and
welcomes any financial assistance from
the well-wishers.