| Italy | |
| Italian Cricket Federation logo | |
| ICC membership granted | 1984 |
| ICC member status | Associate member |
| ICC development region | Europe |
| World Cricket League division | Third |
| Captain | Joe Scuderi |
| Coach | |
| First recorded match | 15 July 1996 v Ireland at Copenhagen, Denmark |
| ICC World Cup Qualifier | |
| Appearances | 1 (plus a withdrawal in 2001) (First in 1997) |
| Best result | 21st place, 1997 |
| As of 27 October 2007 | |
The Italy national cricket team is the team that represents the country of Italy in international cricket matches. They have been an associate member of the International Cricket Council 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 25th 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]
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The earliest mention of cricket in Italy is of a match played by Admiral Nelson's sailors in Naples in 1793. Around the end of the 19th century, several combined cricket and 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.[5]
The "Federazione Cricket Italiana" (Italian Cricket Federation) was formed in 1980,[5] 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.[6] 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.[7] They finished fifth in the following years European Championship.[8]
In 1999, Italy took part in a quadrangular tournament in Gibraltar also featuring France and Israel.[9] They won the tournament, beating the hosts in the final.[10] They finished fifth in Division One of the European Championship the following year[11] 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.[12]
The 2002 European Championship saw Italy finish sixth in Division One,[13] relegating them to Division Two for 2004, which they promptly won.[14] 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.[15]
They took part in Division One of the European Championship in 2006, finishing fifth.[16] 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.
In 2013, Italy will again compete in Division Three of the World Cricket League.
Italy's squad at the World Cricket League Division Three tournament in 2011 waill be the following:
SUBS
The following national team players have played first-class or List A cricket:
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