Italy national cricket team
| Italy | |
 | |
| ICC membership granted | 1984 |
| ICC member status | Associate member |
| ICC development region | Europe |
| World Cricket League division | Four |
| Captain | Damian Crowley |
| Coach | Joe Scuderi |
| First recorded match | 15 July 1996 v Ireland at Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Twenty20 cricket | |
| Twenty20 matches played | 17 |
| Twenty20 wins/losses | 6/11 |
| ICC World Cup Qualifier | |
| Appearances | 1 (plus a withdrawal in 2001) (First in 1997) |
| Best result | 21st place, 1997 |
| As of 8 September 2014 | |
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 26th in the world by the ICC, and are ranked fourth 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 remain the current European T20 champions.
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. 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.[5]
Modern history
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. 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.
Tournament record
World Twenty20 Qualifier
- 2013: 9th place
World Cricket League
- 2007: 7th place (Division Three)
- 2008: 3rd place (Division Four)
- 2010: 2nd place (Division Four)
- 2011: 4th place (Division Three)
- 2013: 6th place (Division Three)
ICC Trophy
- 1979: Not eligible – not an ICC member[1]
- 1982: Not eligible – not an ICC member[1]
- 1986 to 1994 inclusive: Not eligible – ICC affiliate member[1]
- 1997: equal 21st place[7]
- 2001: Withdrew (see above)[12]
- 2005: Did not qualify[17]
- 2009: Did not qualify
- 2014: Did not qualify
European Championship
- 1996: 7th place[6]
- 1998: 5th place[8]
- 2000: 5th place (Division One)[11]
- 2002: 6th place (Division One)[13]
- 2004: Division Two winners[14]
- 2006: 5th place (Division One)[16]
- 2008: 5th place (Division One)
- 2010: 6th place (Division One)
European T20 Championship Division One
- 2011: 2nd place
- 2013: 1st place
Personnel
Squad
The following list contains the fourteen players in Italy's squad for the 2014 ICC World Cricket League Division Four[18]
| Name | Age | Batting style | Bowling style | FC | ODD | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Captain | ||||||
| Damian Crowley | 25 | Right-handed | n/a | - | - | Occasional wicketkeeper |
| Batsmen | ||||||
| Alessandro Bonora | 36 | Right-handed | Right medium | - | - | |
| Joy Perera | 27 | Right-handed | Right medium | - | - | Occasional wicketkeeper |
| Michael Raso | 34 | Left-handed | Off break | - | - | |
| Wicket-keeper | ||||||
| Andy Northcote | 31 | Right-handed | Off break | 2 | - | |
| All-rounder | ||||||
| Tharindu Fernando | 27 | Right-handed | Right medium | - | - | |
| Gareth Berg | 34 | Right-handed | Right medium-fast | 71 | 59 | Plays for Hampshire |
| Fida Hussain | 26 | Right-handed | Right medium | - | - | |
| Dinidu Marage | 33 | Right-handed | Leg break | 22 | ||
| Carl Sandri | 31 | Right-handed | Off break | - | - | Played for Sydney Thunder |
| Bowlers | ||||||
| Dilan Fernando | 29 | Left-handed | Right medium | - | - | |
| Luis di Giglio | 25 | Right-handed | Left medium | - | - | |
| Madupa Fernando | 23 | Left-handed | Slow left-arm orthodox | - | - | |
| Gayashan Munasinghe | 28 | Right-handed | Right medium=fast | - | - | |
| Vincenzo Pennazza | 30 | Right-handed | Left medium | - | - | |
| Divesh Jina | 16 | Right-handed | Right fast | - | - | |
Records
Statistics for Italian cricketers in 50 over World Cricket League matches and European regional competitions, as of 29 July 2014
Highest scores
- Alessandro Bonora - 124* vs Oman at Kowloon Cricket Club, Kowloon on 25 January 2011
- Peter Petricola - 104* vs Hong Kong at Mission Road Ground, Mong Kok on 26 January 2011
- Andy Northcote - 102* vs Fiji at Annadhil Burhani Ground, Dar es Salaam on 5 October 2008
- Peter Petricola - 89 vs Tanzania at Centro Sportivo Dozza, Navile on 20 August 2010
- Peter Petricola - 85 vs USA at Centro Sportivo Ca'Nova, Medicina on 18 August 2010
Best bowling figures
- Gayashan Munasinghe - 4/20 vs Cayman Islands at Centro Sportivo Ca'Nova, Medicina on 19 August 2010
- Peter Petricola - 4/24 vs Tanzania at Centro Sportivo Dozza, Navile on 20 August 2010
- Gayashan Munasinghe - 4/26 vs Denmark at Les Quennevais, St Brelade on 17 July 2010
- Carl Sandri - 4/26 vs Uganda at National Stadium, Hamilton on 1 May 2013
Other players
- Category:Italian cricketers
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Italy at CricketArchive
- ↑ ICC's one-day rankings
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Uganda lift Division Three title by Andrew Nixon, 2 June 2007 at CricketEurope
- ↑ Ireland to host European Championship ICC Europe Media Release, 3 October 2007
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Article about Italian cricket
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 1996 European Championship at CricketEurope
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 1997 ICC Trophy at Cricinfo
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 1998 European Championship at CricketEurope
- ↑ 1999 Gibraltar quadrangular at Cricinfo
- ↑ Scorecard of Gibraltar v Italy, 25 September 1999 at Cricinfo
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 2000 European Championship at CricketEurope
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Italy Withdraws from ICC Trophy, ICC Media Release, 25 June 2001
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 2002 European Championship Official site, results section
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 2004 European Championship Division Two results, European Cricket Council website
- ↑ Scorecard of Italy v Zambia, 27 February 2005 at CricketArchive
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 2006 European Championship Division One at CricketEurope
- ↑ ICC Trophy matches played by Italy at CricketArchive
- ↑ "ICC World Cricket League Division Four, 2014 Concovati". espncricinfo. Retrieved June 2, 2014.
External links
- Official website – mostly in Italian.
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