Italy are finally heading to the World Cup — just not in the sport most people might expect.
Amid dark times for the country’s storied, but ailing soccer team, some salvation comes in the form of the Azzurri’s unheralded cricketers after their first-ever qualification for a global tournament.
Add Italy to cricketing superpowers like India, Australia, England and South Africa competing at the T20 World Cup starting tomorrow.
Photo: AFP
“Just to be there and playing is the end of 45 years of hard work,” Italian Cricket Federation CEO Luca Bruno Malaspina said.
That is a reference to the formation of the sport’s national federation in 1980, but cricket in Italy dates back much further than that — to the late 19th century when it was played by expatriated British textile workers.
Genoa, Italy’s oldest soccer club founded in 1893, were — and still are — called Genoa Cricket and Football Club. The original name of AC Milan, the seven-time European champions, when they were founded in 1899 by an Englishman, Herbert Kilpin, was Milan Football and Cricket Club.
More than a century later, there might not be any grass cricket pitches in Italy, but there are about 4,000 registered men’s players, about 80 clubs in a two-tier league system and a burgeoning national team filled with players who have Italian heritage or who are first or second-generation immigrants from Asia.
For example, captain Wayne Madsen is a South African who qualifies because of his Italian grandmother, while bowler Crishan Kalugamage is a Sri Lankan who moved to Italy when he was 15. Wicketkeeper Marcus Campopiano was born in England and has an Italian father.
The 15-man World Cup squad contains two sets of Australian brothers with Italian family connections: Harry and Benjamin Manenti, and Anthony and Justin Mosca.
“The quality and the numbers are going up,” said Bruno Malaspina, who also praised the largely overseas-born coaching and backroom staff for changing mindsets and raising expectations.
The head coach is former Canada cricketer John Davison, who was raised in Australia and played first-class cricket there before becoming a star for Canada’s national team. Former Ireland batter Kevin O’Brien is an assistant coach.
Italy qualified for the expanded 20-team World Cup via European regional qualifying, finishing second to the Netherlands, and last week beat Ireland for their first-ever win over a full member of the International Cricket Council.
Contrast the national team’s progress in cricket to the regression of their soccer team.
Four-time World Cup winners, Italy missed out on qualification for soccer’s biggest tournament in 2018 and 2022 after losing unexpectedly in the playoffs. The Italians are back in the playoffs again in their bid to reach the upcoming World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico.
Bruno Malaspina believes it is a chance for cricket to “capitalize” on Italy’s shortcomings in soccer.
The World Cup “is a good way to open up cricket to Italians,” he said in a video call. “We are not talking only about money ... but visibility in the Italian sport organization, because they are learning now that cricket is an important sport. There are big numbers all around the world.”
The lack of cricket infrastructure in the country is a major obstacle for progress — Italy currently “hosts” its international games in nations such as the Netherlands and England — but he said the federation is working hard to improve the “very, very poor” cricket grounds and fund at least one turf pitch that can be the spiritual home of Italian cricket.
“The problem is money and the bureaucratic things you have to do in Italy,” he said.
In the short term, Italian cricket is ready to enjoy its landmark moment. The team are in Group C at the World Cup staged jointly by India and Sri Lanka, and would meet Scotland, Nepal, England and the West Indies.
It is the match Italy is least likely to win — against England — that stands out.
“For the players and people involved with cricket, it’s the top of our story: Playing against England. I’m not talking about the result. It’s not about result, the gap is too much,” Bruno Malaspina said. “But England is ... what can I say? England is cricket.”
Fenerbahce on Thursday earned a rare 2-1 win in England, but were still knocked out of the UEFA Europa League by Nottingham Forest in the playoffs. Forest entered the second leg with a healthy 3-0 lead from the opener in Istanbul — where Vitor Pereira made an impact in his first game in charge — and that proved enough to advance to the round-of-16 with a 4-2 aggregate score. The result was a boost for Forest, struggling at 17th place in the Premier League, in their return to Europe after three decades. They next face Real Betis Balompie or Kerem Akturkoglu gave Fenerbahce
Soccer officials yesterday offered “full support and assistance” to the Iranian team in Australia for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup after the US and Israel launched massive attacks on their homeland. Iran’s 26-strong squad arrived on the Gold Coast days before the strikes on Saturday killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as Washington and Tel Aviv seek to topple the Islamic republic. They are due to open their tournament today against South Korea. The AFC in a statement said it “continues to closely monitor the recent developments in the Middle East during this challenging period.” “The AFC’s foremost priority remains the welfare, safety and
ROAD RASH: Marc Marquez retired after a crash, marking the first time after 88 consecutive races stretching back to 2021 that a Ducati bike failed to make the podium Marco Bezzecchi yesterday won the MotoGP season-opening grand prix in Thailand from pole position as defending world champion Marc Marquez retired late with a buckled wheel. Aprilia’s Bezzecchi led from start to finish to top the podium in Buriram, with KTM’s Pedro Acosta second and Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez third. Ducati’s Marquez is chasing a record-equaling eighth world title this season, but he exited the race in dramatic fashion while in fourth place with five laps to go. The Spaniard, who started from second on the grid, took a corner wide, with the jolt to his bike dislodging the rear tire, badly damaging his
EVERY DAY A VICTORY: Players on the women’s team faced pressure from society just getting out onto the field as they prepare for their first Women’s Asian Cup game today Bangladesh’s national soccer team face daunting odds at their first-ever Women’s Asian Cup, but have already scored a major victory by qualifying. In the South Asian nation of 170 million, social stigma, family expectations, poverty and religious hardliners have long relegated women and girls to sports sidelines. The first women’s soccer league matches took place in 2011 and the squad, known to fans as the Red and Green, have kept pressing forward despite deeply embedded prejudices. “Many more girls would have joined us if the community had been even slightly supportive,” captain Afeida Khandaker told AFP ahead of her side’s March 3
RSS