Italy national cricket team

Last updated

"Azzurri" redirects here. For other uses, see Azzurri.
Italy
Italiana.png
Nickname(s)‘Gli Azzurri’ (The Blues)
Association Italian Cricket Federation
Personnel
Captain Gareth Berg
Coach Gareth Berg [1]
History
Twenty20 debutv Flag of Oman.svg  Oman at Dubai; 13 March 2012
International Cricket Council
ICC statusAffiliate (1984)
Associate member (1995)
ICC region Europe
ICC RankingsCurrent [2] Best-ever
T20I 31st 22nd (16 June 2019)
International cricket
First internationalv Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark at Bagsværd; 15 July 1989
One Day Internationals
World Cup Qualifier appearances2 (first in 1997 )
Best resultFirst round (1997, 2001)
Twenty20 Internationals
First T20Iv Flag of Germany.svg  Germany at Sportpark Maarschalkerweerd, Utrecht; 25 May 2019
Last T20Iv Flag of Germany.svg  Germany at The Grange Club, Edinburgh; 28 July 2023
T20IsPlayedWon/Lost
Total [3] 28 17/10 (0 ties, 1 no result)
This year [4] 0 0/0 (0 ties, 0 no results)
T20 World Cup Qualifier appearances3 [lower-alpha 1] (first in 2012 )
Best result3rd place (2023)
Kit left arm.svg
Kit body blue bandshoulder.png
Kit body.svg
Kit right arm.svg
Kit trousers long.png

T20I kit

As of 1 January 2024

The Italy national cricket team is the men's team that represents the country of Italy in international cricket. They have been an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) since 1995, having previously been an affiliate member since 1984. [5] The Italy national cricket team is administered by the Italian Cricket Federation.

Contents

History

Early history

The earliest mention of cricket in Italy is of a match played by Admiral Nelson's sailors in Bayside, NY in 1793 during a stop in Naples harbour[ citation needed ]. Around the end of the 19th century, several combined cricket and association football clubs formed, including the world-famous A.C. Milan, which was originally the Milan Cricket and Football Club and the first Italian football team Genoa Cricket and Football Club, which was originally the Genoa Cricket & Athletic Club. But these clubs soon forgot about cricket and concentrated on football. Cricket started to be revived after the Second World War. [6] Cricket flourished in Rome in the 1960s at a superb field which looked across to St. Peter's dome from Villa Doria Pamphili. The Australian and British embassies, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the Commonwealth War Graves Association, the Venerable English College and Beda College fielded teams which competed for the Rome Ashes there until, in the 1970s, the Villa became a public park. [7]

When cricket resumed in Rome on other grounds at the end of the 1970s, four of the Villa Doria Pamphili-era players formed in 1980 the Doria Pamphili Cricket Club: the Italian-Sri Lankan Francis Alphonsus Jayarajah, the Italian-Indian Massimo da Costa, the Australian Desmond O'Grady and the Syrian Issam Kahale [8]

In the same period, some cricket was played in the northern part of Italy with the Milan Cricket Club being formed in the 1970s and Euratom CC in the 1980s.

Modern history

The "Federazione Cricket Italiana" (Italian Cricket Federation) was formed in 1980, [6] and they became an affiliate member of the ICC in 1984, and were promoted to associate member in 1995. [5]

The first record match by the Italy national team was touring their first UK Tour in August 1984 and played a week of cricket against local London clubs, the first losing against Enfield CC, but ending on a high with their first win in the last match against North Middlesex.

The first international match played by the Italy national team was a draw against Denmark in 1989.

After years of matches against neighboring nations such as France and Germany, in 1996, Italy took part in the first European Championship in Denmark, finishing seventh after beating Israel in a play-off. [9] They took part in the ICC Trophy for the first time in the 1997 tournament and performed poorly, finishing joint last out of the 22 participants. [10] They finished fifth in the following year's European Championship. [11]

In 1999, Italy took part in a quadrangular tournament in Gibraltar also featuring France and Israel. [12] They won the tournament, beating the hosts in the final. [13] They finished fifth in Division One of the European Championship the following year [14] and were due to participate in the 2001 ICC Trophy, but pulled out at the last minute due to a dispute over the eligibility of four players. [15]

The 2002 European Championship saw Italy finish sixth in Division One, [16] relegating them for 2004 to Division Two, which they promptly won. [17] This qualified them for the repêchage tournament for the 2005 ICC Trophy in early 2005 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. They finished seventh in that tournament after beating Zambia in a play-off. [18]

They took part in Division One of the European Championship in 2006, finishing fifth. [19] In May–June 2007, they travelled to Darwin, Australia, to take part in Division Three of the World Cricket League. They finished seventh after beating Fiji in a play-off, and played in Division Four of the World Cricket League in 2008 to come third and remained in 2010 ICC World Cricket League Division Four. [20] With a second place finish there, they were promoted to 2011 ICC World Cricket League Division Three, where they came 4th to remain in 2013 ICC World Cricket League Division Three. They had a chance of reaching the 2015 Cricket World Cup, if they finished in the top two in the 2013 ICC World Cricket League Division Three, and then in the top two of the 2013 Cricket World Cup Qualifier. An encouraging start to this tournament witnessed wins over Oman (9 wickets) and United States (8 runs), followed by defeats, narrowly to Ireland (2 wickets) and more comprehensively against Kenya (7 wickets). After finishing last in this tournament they were relegated to Division Four in 2014.

In November 2013 they competed in the 2013 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in the UAE, their highest level of competition to date. They finished 9th place with victories over the US, and higher-ranked opponents in UAE and Namibia.

2018–present

In April 2018, the ICC decided to grant full Twenty20 International (T20I) status to all its members. Therefore, all Twenty20 matches played between Italy and other ICC members since 1 January 2019 have the T20I status. [21]

In September 2018, Italy qualified from Group B of the 2018–19 ICC World Twenty20 Europe Qualifier to the Regional Finals of the tournament. [22]

Italy played their first T20I against Germany in May 2019.

25 May 2019
11:00
Scorecard
Germany  Flag of Germany.svg
53 (16 overs)
v
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy
57/3 (8.4 overs)
Ahmed Wardak 20* (27)
Michael Ross 4/15 (4 overs)
Joy Perera 21 (10)
Izatullah Dawlatzai 2/17 (4 overs)
Italy won by 7 wickets
Sportpark Maarschalkerweerd, Utrecht
Umpires: Rizwan Akram (Ned) and Huub Jansen (Ned)
  • Germany won the toss and elected to bat.
  • First ever T20I match for Italy.

From August 2019, Italy will play in the 2019–21 ICC Cricket World Cup Challenge League. [23]

In 2023, it was reported that Italy had pursued a strategy of recruiting professional cricketers from Australia and England to play in the regional final of the 2022–23 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier. The recruits have only tenuous connections with Italy but meet ICC regulations by virtue of holding Italian passports. [24]

Tournament record

World Twenty20 Qualifier

World Cricket League

ICC Trophy

European Championship

European T20 Championship Division One

Squad

Italy's squad for the 2023 ICC T20 World Cup Europe Regional Final in July 2023 included the following players: [26]

Records and statistics

International Match Summary — Italy [27]

Last updated 28 July 2023

Playing Record
FormatMWLTNRInaugural Match
Twenty20 Internationals2817100125 May 2019

Twenty20 International

T20I record versus other nations [27]

Records complete to T20I #2178. Last updated 28 July 2023.

OpponentMWLTNRFirst matchFirst win
vs Full Members
Cricket Ireland flag.svg  Ireland 1010020 July 2023
vs Associate Members
Flag of Croatia.svg  Croatia 1100016 July 202216 July 2022
Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark 5310118 June 201915 October 2021
Flag of Finland.svg  Finland 1100013 July 202213 July 2022
Flag of Germany.svg  Germany 8530025 May 201925 May 2019
Flag of Greece.svg  Greece 1100012 July 202212 July 2022
Flag of Guernsey.svg  Guernsey 1100016 June 201916 June 2019
Flag of the Isle of Man.svg  Isle of Man 1100019 July 202219 July 2022
Flag of Jersey.svg  Jersey 4130019 June 201923 July 2023
Flag of Norway.svg  Norway 1100015 June 201915 June 2019
Flag of Scotland.svg  Scotland 1010024 July 2023
Flag of Spain.svg  Spain 211005 November 20226 November 2022
Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden 1100015 July 202215 July 2022

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ From 2023 edition onwards, T20 World Cup Qualifier refers to the Regional Final of the ICC Europe region.

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References

  1. ↑ "Gareth Berg named playing head coach of Italy". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  2. ↑ "ICC Rankings". International Cricket Council.
  3. ↑ "T20I matches - Team records". ESPNcricinfo.
  4. ↑ "T20I matches - 2024 Team records". ESPNcricinfo.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Italy at CricketArchive
  6. 1 2 "Article about Italian cricket". Archived from the original on 13 February 2006. Retrieved 15 March 2006.
  7. ↑ Lombardo, Ilario; Fasola, Giacomo; Moscatelli, Francesco (10 October 2013). Italian Cricket Club Ilario Lombardo, Giacomo Fasola, Francesco. Benezit Dictionary of Artists. ISBN   9788867830541.
  8. ↑ "The European Club Cricket Tournament Rome Capanelle CC (Italy) squad". ecct.hitscricket.com. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
  9. 1 2 1996 European Championship Archived 5 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine at CricketEurope
  10. 1 2 1997 ICC Trophy at Cricinfo
  11. 1 2 1998 European Championship Archived 9 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine at CricketEurope
  12. ↑ 1999 Gibraltar quadrangular at Cricinfo
  13. ↑ Scorecard of Gibraltar v Italy, 25 September 1999 at Cricinfo
  14. 1 2 2000 European Championship Archived 5 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine at CricketEurope
  15. 1 2 Italy Withdraws from ICC Trophy, ICC Media Release, 25 June 2001
  16. 1 2 2002 European Championship Official site Archived 6 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine , results section
  17. 1 2 2004 European Championship Division Two results Archived 1 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine , European Cricket Council website
  18. ↑ Scorecard of Italy v Zambia, 27 February 2005 at CricketArchive
  19. 1 2 2006 European Championship Division One Archived 8 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine at CricketEurope
  20. ↑ Uganda lift Division Three title Archived 24 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine by Andrew Nixon, 2 June 2007 at CricketEurope
  21. ↑ "All T20 matches between ICC members to get international status". International Cricket Council . 26 April 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  22. ↑ "Italy secure place in European final". Cricket Europe. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
  23. ↑ "All to play for in last ever World Cricket League tournament". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
  24. ↑ Roller, Matt (22 February 2023). "Johnson, Madsen, Manenti sign up for Berg's Italian Job" . Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  25. ↑ ICC Trophy matches played by Italy at CricketArchive
  26. ↑ "ICC Men's T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier gets underway in Scotland". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  27. 1 2 "Records / Italy / Twenty20 Internationals / Result summary". ESPNcricinfo . Retrieved 6 November 2022.
  28. ↑ "Records / Italy / Twenty20 Internationals / Highest totals". ESPNcricinfo . Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  29. ↑ "Records / Italy / Twenty20 Internationals / High scores". ESPNcricinfo . Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  30. ↑ "Records / Italy / Twenty20 Internationals / Best bowling figures". ESPNcricinfo . Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  31. ↑ "Records / Italy / Twenty20 Internationals / Most runs". ESPNcricinfo . Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  32. ↑ "Records / Italy / Twenty20 Internationals / Most wickets". ESPNcricinfo . Retrieved 25 May 2019.
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