Vanuatu offers live action

Vanuatu is very likely to be the only venue in the world to have hosted a competitive cricket final this weekend as most international sport remains shut around the globe.

The women's final was preceded by a men's exhibition match and streamed live from the capital Port Vila on the Vanuatu Cricket Twitter feed and Facebook page.

Vanuatu Cricket Association chief executive Shane Deitz, the former South Australia left-hander, had invited anyone missing live action to tune in to a live stream from the tropical island in the South Pacific.

"It's one of the only live sports around the world at the moment. We can showcase a bit of cricket for everyone who is in lockdown," Deitz told the Associated Press.

He also said that they were surprised by the huge response from the viewers so far.

Bored sports fans, he added, "can see something a bit different. We can offer some entertainment - that's what we're trying to do".

Vanuatu went into lock down late last month as a precaution during the coranavirus pandemic, and was then hit by a destructive cyclone on April 6.

The country, some 2,000 kilometres off the east coast of Australia, has a population of 300,000 but has not yet recorded a single case of COVID-19.

"We're lucky here in Vanuatu and life is returning to normal so we thought it was our duty to provide the world with some live sport," Deitz said in a video posted on Twitter ahead of the final. "We really hope that everyone around the world can tune in and watch some fantastic cricket coming from Vanuatu and break up the boredom you must be suffering stuck in your living rooms."

While they're celebrating a reopening, there's work to be done in parts of the island archipelago that are rebuilding after Cyclone Harold.

Cricket is a serious sport in Vanuatu, which has roughly 80 islands and a population of nearly 300,000. In the past, Deitz said stars including former Australia captain Steve Waugh and fast bowler Merv Hughes visited Port Vila.

After a decade of playing first-class cricket for South Australia, Deitz moved into coaching in New Zealand, then in Bangladesh and has lived for five years in Vanuatu, where he made his international debut as a player in 2018.

His aim is to keep developing the game and facilities, hoping to make Vanuatu a destination for club teams and national junior teams to practice and play.