Italy national cricket team
 | ||||||||||
| Nickname(s) | Gli Azzurri (lit. 'The Blues') | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Association | Italian Cricket Federation | |||||||||
| Personnel | ||||||||||
| Captain | Joe Burns[1] (T20I) Marcus Campopiano (List A) | |||||||||
| Coach | John Davison (T20I) Gareth Berg (List A) | |||||||||
| History | ||||||||||
| Twenty20 debut | v  Oman at Dubai; 13 March 2012 | |||||||||
| International Cricket Council | ||||||||||
| ICC status | Affiliate (1984) Associate member (1995) | |||||||||
| ICC region | Europe | |||||||||
| ||||||||||
| International cricket | ||||||||||
| First international | v  Denmark at Bagsværd; 15 July 1989 | |||||||||
| One Day Internationals | ||||||||||
| World Cup Qualifier appearances | 2 (first in 1997) | |||||||||
| Best result | First round (1997, 2001) | |||||||||
| T20 Internationals | ||||||||||
| First T20I | v  Germany at Sportpark Maarschalkerweerd, Utrecht; 25 May 2019 | |||||||||
| Last T20I | v  Netherlands at Sportpark Westvliet, Voorburg; 11 July 2025 | |||||||||
| ||||||||||
| T20 World Cup appearances | 1 (first in 2026) | |||||||||
| Best result | TBD | |||||||||
| T20 World Cup Qualifier appearances | 4[a] (first in 2012) | |||||||||
| Best result | 2nd place (2025) | |||||||||
| ||||||||||
| As of 1 July 2025 | ||||||||||
The Italy men's national cricket team is the team that represents the nation of Italy in men's international cricket. They have been an associate member of the International Cricket Council since 1995, having previously been an affiliate member since 1984.[5] The Italy national cricket team is administered by the Italian Cricket Federation.
History
[edit]Early history
[edit]The earliest mention of cricket in Italy is of a match played by Admiral Nelson's sailors 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
[edit]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 in which they caused the biggest upset to date in the history of the game by beating the England XI in the promotion/relegation playoff.[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, Italian citizens by birth but not reesident in Italy. The dispute was happily resolved by ICC a year later with the recognition of citizenship as a criterion for eligibility in national teams. [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
[edit]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.
v
|
||
- 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, while holding Italian passports and meeting ICC regulations for representing the country, may have arguably only tenuous direct connections with Italy.[24] On July 11, 2025, following a stunning 12-run upset over Scotland at the European Regional Final,[25][26]
v
|
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- Italy won the toss and elected to bat.
Italy sealed a spot at the 2026 Men's T20 World Cup. They overcame third-place Jersey on net run rate.[27][28]
Tournament records
[edit]ICC Cricket World Cup
[edit]| World Cup record | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | GP | W | L | T | NR | |
 1975 |
Did not qualify, no ICC ODI status | |||||||
| 1979
| ||||||||
| 1983
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  1987
| ||||||||
  1992
| ||||||||
 1996
| ||||||||
  1999
| ||||||||
 2003
| ||||||||
 2007
| ||||||||
 2011
| ||||||||
| 2015
| ||||||||
| 2019
| ||||||||
| 2023
| ||||||||
  2027 |
TBD | |||||||
| 2031
| ||||||||
| Total | 0/14 | 0 Title | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
ICC T20 World Cup
[edit]| ICC T20 World Cup records | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year/Host | Round | Position | GP | W | L | T | NR | |
| 2007 |
Did not qualify | |||||||
| 2009
| ||||||||
| 2010
| ||||||||
| 2012
| ||||||||
| 2014
| ||||||||
| 2016
| ||||||||
 2021
| ||||||||
| 2022
| ||||||||
 2024
| ||||||||
| 2026 |
Qualified | |||||||
| 2028 |
TBD | |||||||
 2030
| ||||||||
| Total | 1/9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier Regional Final
[edit]| ICC World TwentyT20 Qualifiers Regional Final records | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | GP | W | L | T | NR | |
 2019 |
Round-robin | 3/6 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
 2021 |
Round-robin | 3/4 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2023 |
Round-robin | 3/7 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | |
| 2025 |
Round-robin | 2/5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| Total | 4/4 | 0 Titles | 21 | 11 | 8 | 0 | 2 | |
Summer Olympics
[edit]| Cricket at the Summer Olympics records | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Host/Year | Round | Position | GP | W | L | T | NR | |
 1900 |
Did not participate | |||||||
| Total | 0/1 | 0 Titles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
ICC Cricket World Cup Challenge League
[edit]| ICC Cricket World Cup Challenge League records | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Host/Year | Round | Position | GP | W | L | T | NR |
  2019–2022 |
Round-robin | 9/12 | 15 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 1 |
 2024–2026 |
Round-robin | 2/6 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Total | 2/2 | 0 Titles | 25 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 3 |
ICC Cricket World Cup Challenge League Play-off
[edit]- 2024: 2nd (Qualified for 2024–2026 Cricket World Cup Challenge League)
World Cricket League
[edit]- 2007: 7th place (Division Three) – relegated
- 2008: 3rd place (Division Four)
- 2010: 2nd place (Division Four) – promoted
- 2011: 4th place (Division Three)
- 2013: 6th place (Division Three) – relegated
- 2014: 4th place (Division Four)
- 2016: 6th place (Division Four) – relegated
- 2017: 4th place (Division Five) – relegated to regional tournaments
ICC Trophy
[edit]| ICC Trophy records | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Host/Year | Round | Position | GP | W | L | T | NR | |
| 1979 |
Not eligible–Not an ICC member[5] | |||||||
| 1982
| ||||||||
| 1986
| ||||||||
| 1990 |
Not eligible–ICC affiliate member[5] | |||||||
 1994
| ||||||||
 1997 |
Group stage | 21/21 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2001 |
Qualified, but withdrew | |||||||
| 2005 |
Did not qualify | |||||||
| Total | 1/8 | 0 Titles | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
European Cricket Championship
[edit]| European Cricket Championship records | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Host/Year | Round | Position | GP | W | L | T | NR | |
| 1996 |
Round-robin | 7/8 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1998 |
Round-robin | 5/10 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2000 |
Round-robin | 5/6 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2002 |
Round-robin | 6/6 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
 2004 |
Did not participate | |||||||
| 2006 |
Round-robin | 5/5 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2008 |
Round-robin | 5/6 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | |
| 2010 |
Round-robin | 6/6 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 7/8 | 0 Titles | 31 | 6 | 24 | 0 | 1 | |
European T20 Championship Division One
[edit]| European T20 Championship Division One records | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | GP | W | L | T | NR | |
| 2011 |
Round-robin | Runners-up | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2013 |
Round-robin | Champion | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2015 |
Round-robin | 3/6 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 3/3 | 1 Title | 19 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
Current squad
[edit]Italy's squad for the 2026 ICC T20 World Cup Europe Regional Final in July 2025 included the following players:[29]
| Name | Age | Batting style | Bowling style | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batters | ||||
| Emilio Gay | 25 | Left-handed | - | |
| Anthony Mosca | 34 | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | |
| Justin Mosca | 28 | Left-handed | - | |
| Zain Naqvi | 29 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium-fast | |
| Syed Naqvi | 31 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | |
| Zain Ali | 24 | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | |
| All-rounders | ||||
| Joe Burns | 35 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium-fast | Captain |
| Grant Stewart | 31 | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | |
| Damith Kosala | 35 | Left-handed | Left-arm orthodox spin | |
| Jaspreet Singh | 32 | Right-handed | Right-arm fast-medium | |
| Benjamin Manenti | 28 | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | |
| Harry Manenti | 25 | Right-handed | Right-arm off break | |
| Wicket-keepers | ||||
| Marcus Campopiano | 31 | Right-handed | - | Wicket-keeper |
| Gian-Piero Meade | 28 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium | Wicket-keeper |
| Spin Bowlers | ||||
| Crishan Kalugamage | 25 | Right-handed | Right-arm leg spin | |
| Pace Bowlers | ||||
| Thomas Draca | 27 | Right-handed | Right-arm fast | |
| Bilal Muhammad | 25 | Right-handed | Right-arm medium-fast | |
Coaching staff
[edit]| Role | Name |
|---|---|
| Head Coach | Gareth Berg |
| T20i Coach | John Davison |
| Assistant Coach | Alessandro Bonora |
| Team Manager | Gianluca Perotto |
| Physiotherapist | Marco Santini |
| Strength & Conditioning Coach | Luca Romano |
| Analyst | Federico Rossi |
International grounds
[edit]
| Ground | City | Region | Capacity | Matches hosted | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roma Cricket Ground | Rome | Lazio | 1,000 | T20Is, ICC qualifiers | Main venue for Italy’s national team; hosted ICC Men's T20 World Cup Europe Qualifiers |
| Jesselton Cricket Ground | Jesolo | Veneto | 800 | T20Is | Used for ICC Europe development tournaments |
| Simar Cricket Ground | Palermo | Sicily | 1,200 | T20Is | Hosts international matches; part of ICC Europe's southern development region |
Records and statistics
[edit]International Match Summary — Italy
[edit]Last updated 11 July 2025[30]
| Playing Record | ||||||
| Format | M | W | L | T | NR | Inaugural Match |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Twenty20 Internationals | 36 | 24 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 25 May 2019 |
Twenty20 International
[edit]- Highest team total: 244/4 v. Romania on 16 June 2024 at Simar Cricket Ground, Palermo.[31]
- Highest individual score: 108*, Joe Burns v. Romania on 16 June 2024 at Simar Cricket Ground, Palermo.[32]
- Best individual bowling figures: 5/14, Stefano di Bartolomeo v. Germany on 28 July 2023 at The Grange Club, Edinburgh.[33]
Most T20I runs for Italy[34]
| Player | Runs | Average | Career span |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marcus Campopiano | 463 | 33.07 | 2022–2025 |
| Grant Stewart | 429 | 30.64 | 2021–2025 |
| Joy Perera | 367 | 28.23 | 2019–2022 |
| Anthony Mosca | 364 | 40.44 | 2022–2025 |
| Justin Mosca | 364 | 24.26 | 2022–2025 |
Most T20I wickets for Italy[35]
| Player | Wickets | Average | Career span |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harry Manenti | 34 | 11.64 | 2022–2025 |
| Jaspreet Singh | 21 | 19.52 | 2019–2025 |
| Gareth Berg | 20 | 16.45 | 2022–2024 |
| Crishan Kalugamage | 16 | 17.81 | 2022–2025 |
| Stefano di Bartolomeo | 13 | 18.50 | 2023–2024 |
T20I record versus other nations[30]
Records complete to T20I #3303. Last updated 11 July 2025.
| Opponent | M | W | L | T | NR | First match | First win |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| vs Full Members | |||||||
 Ireland |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 20 July 2023 | |
| vs Associate Members | |||||||
 Croatia |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 July 2022 | 16 July 2022 |
| Denmark |
5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 18 June 2019 | 15 October 2021 |
 Finland |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 July 2022 | 13 July 2022 |
| France |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 June 2024 | 10 June 2024 |
| Germany |
8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 25 May 2019 | 25 May 2019 |
 Greece |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 July 2022 | 12 July 2022 |
| Guernsey |
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 June 2019 | 16 June 2019 |
 Isle of Man |
2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 July 2022 | 19 July 2022 |
| Jersey |
4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 19 June 2019 | 23 July 2023 |
 Luxembourg |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 June 2024 | 9 June 2024 |
| Netherlands |
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 July 2025 | |
 Norway |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 June 2019 | 15 June 2019 |
 Romania |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 June 2024 | 16 June 2024 |
| Scotland |
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 24 July 2023 | 9 July 2025 |
| Spain |
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 November 2022 | 6 November 2022 |
 Sweden |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 July 2022 | 15 July 2022 |
 Turkey |
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 June 2024 | 13 June 2024 |
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ From 2023 edition onwards, T20 World Cup Qualifier refers to the Regional Final of the ICC Europe region.
References
[edit]- ^ "Joe Burns nuovo capitano della Nazionale italiana di cricket T20" [Joe Burns new captain of the Italian national T20 cricket team]. Cricket Italia (in Italian). 3 December 2024. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
- ^ "ICC Rankings". International Cricket Council.
- ^ "T20I matches - Team records". ESPNcricinfo.
- ^ "T20I matches - 2025 Team records". ESPNcricinfo.
- ^ a b c d Italy at CricketArchive
- ^ a b "Article about Italian cricket". Archived from the original on 13 February 2006. Retrieved 15 March 2006.
- ^ Lombardo, Ilario; Fasola, Giacomo; Moscatelli, Francesco (10 October 2013). Italian Cricket Club Ilario Lombardo, Giacomo Fasola, Francesco. Benezit Dictionary of Artists. ISBN 9788867830541.
- ^ "The European Club Cricket Tournament Rome Capanelle CC (Italy) squad". ecct.hitscricket.com. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
- ^ 1996 European Championship Archived 5 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine at CricketEurope
- ^ 1997 ICC Trophy at Cricinfo
- ^ 1998 European Championship Archived 9 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine at CricketEurope
- ^ 1999 Gibraltar quadrangular at Cricinfo
- ^ Scorecard of Gibraltar v Italy, 25 September 1999 at Cricinfo
- ^ 2000 European Championship Archived 5 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine at CricketEurope
- ^ Italy Withdraws from ICC Trophy, ICC Media Release, 25 June 2001
- ^ 2002 European Championship Official site Archived 6 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine, results section
- ^ 2004 European Championship Division Two results Archived 1 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine, European Cricket Council website
- ^ Scorecard of Italy v Zambia, 27 February 2005 at CricketArchive
- ^ 2006 European Championship Division One Archived 8 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine at CricketEurope
- ^ Uganda lift Division Three title Archived 24 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine by Andrew Nixon, 2 June 2007 at CricketEurope
- ^ "All T20 matches between ICC members to get international status". International Cricket Council. 26 April 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
- ^ "Italy secure place in European final". Cricket Europe. Archived from the original on 3 September 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
- ^ "All to play for in last ever World Cricket League tournament". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 11 April 2019.
- ^ Roller, Matt (22 February 2023). "Johnson, Madsen, Manenti sign up for Berg's Italian Job". Retrieved 23 February 2023.
- ^ Abraham, Timothy (9 July 2025). "Italy on verge of T20 World Cup after stunning Scotland". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
- ^ Gayler, Maya (10 July 2025). "Italy One Win Away from T20 World Cup Dream After Upset Over Scotland". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
- ^ Abraham, Timothy (11 July 2025). "Italy qualify for T20 World Cup for first time as Jersey miss out". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
- ^ "Italy qualify for men's T20 World Cup for the first time in history, to play in 2026 edition hosted by India, Sri Lanka". The Hindustan Times. 11 July 2025. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
- ^ "ICC Men's T20 World Cup Europe Qualifier gets underway in Scotland". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
- ^ a b "Records / Italy / Twenty20 Internationals / Result summary". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
- ^ "Records / Italy / Twenty20 Internationals / Highest totals". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
- ^ "Records / Italy / Twenty20 Internationals / High scores". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
- ^ "Records / Italy / Twenty20 Internationals / Best bowling figures". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
- ^ "Records / Italy / Twenty20 Internationals / Most runs". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
- ^ "Records / Italy / Twenty20 Internationals / Most wickets". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 25 May 2019.