The British introduced cricket in the late 1800s to Samoa. The Samoan people liked the sport, but they didn’t love the sport. It quickly evolved into a version of cricket that Polynesian communities absolutely love and it spread across the Pacific Islands. Over the next 100+ years it has become an integral part of many communities throughout Polynesia.

The extreme popularity threatened Samoan education. The then German government of Samoa almost banned the game to keep kids in school. In neighbouring Tokelau, the game takes a life and death status; they’ve adopted the word ‘taua’ (battle) to describe a game and ‘mate’ (dead) when the batsman is out.

Aotearoa New Zealand hosted the inaugural Kilikiti World Cup in 2001, where the hosts edged out American Samoa in the best of three series for the championship. Standardised rules were introduced for the world cup. Traditionally, rules were agreed upon before a game to fit the preferences of the teams.