Italy national cricket team

Italy
Association Federazione Cricket Italiana
Personnel
Captain Gayashan Munasinghe
Coach AustraliaJoe Scuderi
History
Twenty20 debut Italy Italy v. Oman 
(Dubai, UAE; 13 March 2012)
International Cricket Council
ICC status Affiliate (1984)
Associate member (1995)
ICC region Europe
WCL n/a (regional tournaments)
International cricket
First international Italy Italy v. Denmark 
(Bagsværd, Denmark; 15 July 1989)
One Day Internationals
World Cup Qualifier Appearances 2 (first in 1997)
Best result First round (1997, 2001)
Twenty20 Internationals
World Twenty20 Qualifier Appearances 2 (first in 2012)
Best result 9th place (2013)
As of 17 December 2016

The Italy national cricket team is the 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.[1] The Italian national cricket team is administered by the Federazione Cricket Italiana (Italian Cricket Federation).

They are currently ranked 28th in the world by the ICC, and are ranked fifth amongst European non-Test teams.[2] They are in Division Four of the World Cricket League[3] and Division One of the European Championship.[4] Italy won their first major international tournament when they won the 2013 ICC European T20 Championship Division One, and in the 2013 ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier Italy made history after beating a much higher ranked team, UAE.

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 after 1 January 2019 will be a full T20I.[5]

History

Early history

The earliest mention of cricket in Italy is of a match played by Captain Morgan's sailors in Bayside, NY in 1793 during a stop in Naples harbour. 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]

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.[1]

In 1996, Italy took part in the first European Championship in Denmark, finishing seventh after beating Israel in a play-off.[7] 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.[8] They finished fifth in the following years European Championship.[9]

In 1999, Italy took part in a quadrangular tournament in Gibraltar also featuring France and Israel.[10] They won the tournament, beating the hosts in the final.[11] They finished fifth in Division One of the European Championship the following year[12] 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.[13]

The 2002 European Championship saw Italy finish sixth in Division One,[14] relegating them to Division Two for 2004, which they promptly won.[15] 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.[16]

They took part in Division One of the European Championship in 2006, finishing fifth.[17] 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 3rd and remained in 2010 ICC World Cricket League Division Four.[3] They came 2nd there to be promoted to 2011 ICC World Cricket League Division Three, where they came 4th to remain in 2013 ICC World Cricket League Division Three. They have a chance of reaching the 2015 Cricket World Cup, if it finishes 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 has 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 will be relegated to Division Four in 2014

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

In September 2018, Italy qualified from Group B of the 2018–19 ICC World Twenty20 Europe Qualifier to the Regional Finals of the tournament.[18]

Tournament record

World Twenty20 Qualifier

  • 2013: 9th place

World Cricket League

ICC Trophy

European Championship

  • 1996: 7th place[7]
  • 1998: 5th place[9]
  • 2000: 5th place (Division One)[12]
  • 2002: 6th place (Division One)[14]
  • 2004: Division Two winners[15]
  • 2006: 5th place (Division One)[17]
  • 2008: 5th place (Division One)
  • 2010: 6th place (Division One)

European T20 Championship Division One

  • 2011: 2nd place
  • 2013: 1st place

Squad

Italy's squad for the 2018–19 ICC World Twenty20 Europe Qualifier in August 2018 were the following players:[20]

Other players, who were part of Italy's squad at the 2017 ICC World Cricket League Division Five.

Records

Statistics for Italian cricketers in 50 over World Cricket League matches and European regional competitions, as of 29 July 2014

Highest scores

Best bowling figures

Other players

  • Category:Italian cricketers

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Italy at CricketArchive
  2. ↑ ICC's one-day rankings Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. 1 2 Uganda lift Division Three title Archived 24 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine. by Andrew Nixon, 2 June 2007 at CricketEurope
  4. ↑ Ireland to host European Championship ICC Europe Media Release, 3 October 2007
  5. ↑ "All T20 matches between ICC members to get international status". International Cricket Council. 26 April 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  6. 1 2 Article about Italian cricket
  7. 1 2 1996 European Championship Archived 5 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine. at CricketEurope
  8. 1 2 1997 ICC Trophy at Cricinfo
  9. 1 2 1998 European Championship Archived 9 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine. at CricketEurope
  10. ↑ 1999 Gibraltar quadrangular at Cricinfo
  11. ↑ Scorecard of Gibraltar v Italy, 25 September 1999 at Cricinfo
  12. 1 2 2000 European Championship Archived 5 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine. at CricketEurope
  13. 1 2 Italy Withdraws from ICC Trophy, ICC Media Release, 25 June 2001
  14. 1 2 2002 European Championship Official site Archived 6 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine., results section
  15. 1 2 2004 European Championship Division Two results Archived 1 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine., European Cricket Council website
  16. ↑ Scorecard of Italy v Zambia, 27 February 2005 at CricketArchive
  17. 1 2 2006 European Championship Division One Archived 8 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine. at CricketEurope
  18. ↑ "Italy secure place in European final". Cricket Europe. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
  19. ↑ ICC Trophy matches played by Italy at CricketArchive
  20. ↑ "Road to ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 starts in South Africa". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 28 August 2017.
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