kilikiti

The term kilikiti is borrowed from Samoan,{{Cite web|url=https://education.nsw.gov.au/content/dam/main-education/teaching-and-learning/curriculum/multicultural-education/eald/eald-bilingual-dictionary-samoan.pdf|title=English-Samoan Bilingual Dictionary|publisher=NSW Department of Education|page=15}} Tongan{{Cite web|url=https://education.nsw.gov.au/content/dam/main-education/teaching-and-learning/curriculum/multicultural-education/eald/eald-bilingual-dictionary-tongan.pdf|title=English-Tongan Bilingual Dictionary|publisher=NSW Department of Education|page=15}} and Tuvaluan. Kilikiti is the Samoan and Tongan term for the sport of cricket and derived from English. The term in Samoan is sometimes spelt kirikiti, which is also the Māori name for the sport.{{cite web | url=https://maoridictionary.co.nz/word/2694 | title=Kirikiti - te Aka Māori Dictionary }}

The ball is made of a very hard rubber wrapped in pandanus. Players are not protected by any padding or masks, and will often wear only a lava-lava. The sennit-wrapped wooden bat is modeled on the three-sided Samoan war club called the "lapalapa," which are based on the stalk of coconut fronds. Bats are shaped to individual players' likings and can be over a meter long; because the striking surface of the bat is angled (just as the "lapalapa" club and the coconut frond stalk), the path of a hit ball is extremely hard to predict.

The rules of kilikiti are flexible. Indeed, the majority of reports written on the game simply say that the rules can only be known by those playing.

File:Jock Livingston c1942.jpg with a Kilikiti bat]]

There is a batting team, a fielding team, and a pitch (sometimes of concrete). The bowl alternates between two bowlers, one at each end of the pitch; accordingly, there are two wicket keepers (this as opposed to the single wicket keeper in cricket).

There is no limit to team size, and teams are made up of whoever turns up regardless of gender or age.{{cite news|title=Kirikiti - 37 for the loss of 19 wickets? |url=http://www.ieccjapan.com/newsletter/newsletter43.htm |work=India Engineers Cricket Club Newsletter |volume=43 |date=2004-09-02 |access-date=2005-09-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050225084716/http://ieccjapan.com/newsletter/newsletter43.htm |archive-date=2005-02-25 }} Tourist accounts mention that strangers are often welcomed. Players are typically all-rounders.

A kilikiti game is a multi-day community event full of singing, dancing, and feasting. Entire villages will compete and everyone will be involved, whether as player, cook, or spectator. According to one source, the only universal rule is that the host team forfeits if it cannot provide enough food.

The New Zealand Kilikiti Association (NZKA) is working to standardize the rules of kilikiti. In 1999 the NZKA started a national tournament, called the Supercific Kilikiti Tournament, and in 2001 it introduced the international World Cup Kilikiti Tournament. Games have been cut to a television-friendly 70 minutes (2 innings, the first being 30 minutes long and the second bowling the same number of balls as the first). The NZKA has also added the scoring of 4s and 6s.

{{Main|Kilikiti World Cup}}

Kilikiti is a growing sport in Australia, particularly among Samoan Australians.{{cite web | url=https://www.abc.net.au/pacific/programs/pacificbeat/kilikiticomp/101467426 | title=Brisbane kilikiti competition to celebrate traditional Samoan sport | website=Australian Broadcasting Corporation | date=22 September 2022 }}

The Fetuilelagi Kilikiti Tournament is held annually in Brisbane. In 2022, 15 teams competed.{{Cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/100054374568384/posts/thank-you-abc-sport-for-featuring-the-fetuilelagi-kilikiti-tournament-we-hosted-/638260771329736/|title=Thank you ABC... - Fetuilelagi Kilikiti Tournament - Brisbane|website=www.facebook.com|accessdate=27 March 2023}}

Tournaments have also been held in other cities, such as Melbourne{{cite news | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-04-10/an-samoa27s-version-of-cricket2c-kilikiti2c-on-display-in-me/5380372?section=vic | title=Australian Samoans showcase their own version of cricket | newspaper=ABC News | date=10 April 2014 }} and Sydney.

Kilikiti has become a popular sport across New Zealand. It is especially popular among Samoan New Zealanders.{{cite web | url=https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/programmes/champions-of-the-pacific/audio/2018787548/how-kilikiti-is-helping-keep-the-samoan-culture-alive-in-nz | title=How kilikiti is helping keep the Samoan culture alive in NZ | website=Radio New Zealand | date=15 March 2021 }}

Tournaments have been held across the country, mostly in Auckland.{{cite web | url=https://collegesport.co.nz/sports/kilikiti/kilikiti-information/ | title=Kilikiti Information – College Sport Auckland }}

The Counties Manakau Kilikiti Association is the main league for the sport in New Zealand.{{cite web |url=https://cmkirikiti.org/ |title=CM Kirikiti |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230129230228/https://cmkirikiti.org/ |archive-date=29 January 2023}}

Kilikiti originated in Samoa and is popular nationwide.

Like in Samoa, the sport is also widespread in American Samoa.

The sport has also been played in Fiji, Niue, Tokelau, Tonga and Tuvalu.

The sport has also been played in countries such as the United States.

{{Portal|Tuvalu}}

• Cricket in Oceania
• Trobriand cricket

{{reflist}}

• [http://www.sportsground.co.nz/kilikiti_nz_international/81350/ New Zealand Kilikiti Association]
• {{cite news|first1=Liza (text) |last1=Simon |first2=Tom (photography) |last2=Haar |title=South Seas Cricket: The staid British sport gets a Polynesian makeover |url=http://www.hanahou.com/cricket.htm |work=Hana Hou |access-date=2005-09-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050326081235/http://www.hanahou.com/cricket.htm |archive-date=2005-03-26 |url-status=dead }}
• {{cite web|first=Iulia |last=Leilua |title=Supercific Kilikiti Tournament |url=http://www.eventpolynesia.com/events/samoa/archive/NZ3_page_supercifickilikiti02.htm |year=2005 |access-date=2005-09-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060517225926/http://www.eventpolynesia.com/events/samoa/archive/NZ3_page_supercifickilikiti02.htm |archive-date=2006-05-17 }}
• {{cite web| title=Independent Samoa: Its Culture and Atmosphere| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A2026982 | work=h2g2 |publisher=BBC | access-date=2005-09-05}}
• {{cite web | title=Cricket – Pacific Style| url=http://channel.tepapa.govt.nz/gallery/cricket-pacific-style/ |publisher=Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa | access-date=2015-05-03}}
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0qhwN5iT68 2001 Kilikiti World Cup highlights] on YouTube

{{Forms of cricket}}

Category:Short form cricket

Category:Cricket in Samoa

Category:Sports originating in Samoa

Category:Sport in Tuvalu