Italy national cricket team
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Italy | |
 |
|
| ICC membership granted | 1984 |
| ICC member status | Associate member |
| ICC development region | Europe |
| Captain | Joe Scuderi |
| World Cricket League division | Four |
| European Cricket Championship division | One |
| First recorded match | 15 July 1996 v Ireland at Copenhagen, Denmark |
| ICC Trophy | |
| 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 27th 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]
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] The Early Days
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]
[edit] The modern era
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 will play in Division Four of the World Cricket League in 2008.[3]
[edit] Tournament History
[edit] World Cricket League
- 2007: 7th place (Division Three)
[edit] 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]
[edit] 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]
[edit] The future
In addition to playing in Division Four of the World Cricket League in 2008 against Fiji, Hong Kong, Tanzania[3] Italy will also participate in Division One of the European Championship in Dublin, playing against Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway and Scotland.[4]
[edit] Players
[edit] Current squad
Italy's squad at the World Cricket League Division Three tournament in 2007 was as follows:[18]
- Joe Scuderi (captain)
- Faheem Abid
- Din Alaud
- Alessandro Bonora
- Andrea Corbellari
- Troy Crosland
- Hemantha Jayasena
- Samantha Ketipe
- Thushara Kurukulasuriya
- Michel Minghetti
- Andy Northcote
- Nicholas Northcote
- Kelum Perera
- Nicola Puccio
[edit] Other players
The following national team players have played first-class or List A cricket:
- Akhlaq Qureshi - played first-class and List A cricket in Pakistan[19]
- Samantha de Mel - played first-class cricket in Sri Lanka[20]
- Hemantha Jayasena - played first-class cricket in Sri Lanka[21]
- Joe Scuderi - played for Queensland, South Australia and Lancashire[22]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e Italy at CricketArchive
- ^ ICC's one-day rankings
- ^ a b c Uganda lift Division Three title by Andrew Nixon, 2 June 2007 at CricketEurope
- ^ a b Ireland to host European Championship ICC Europe Media Release, 3 October 2007
- ^ a b Article about Italian cricket
- ^ a b 1996 European Championship at CricketEurope
- ^ a b 1997 ICC Trophy at Cricinfo
- ^ a b 1998 European Championship at CricketEurope
- ^ 1999 Gibraltar quadrangular at Cricinfo
- ^ Scorecard of Gibraltar v Italy, 25 September 1999 at Cricinfo
- ^ a b 2000 European Championship at CricketEurope
- ^ a b Italy Withdraws from ICC Trophy, ICC Media Release, 25 June 2001
- ^ a b 2002 European Championship Official site, results section
- ^ a b 2004 European Championship Division Two results, European Cricket Council website
- ^ Scorecard of Italy v Zambia, 27 February 2005 at CricketArchive
- ^ a b 2006 European Championship Division One at CricketEurope
- ^ ICC Trophy matches played by Italy at CricketArchive
- ^ 2007 ICC World Cricket League Division Three squads at CricketEurope
- ^ Akhlaq Qureshi at CricketArchive
- ^ Samantha de Mel at CricketArchive
- ^ Hemantha Jayasena at CricketArchive
- ^ Joe Scuderi at CricketArchive
[edit] External links
- Official Site - mostly in Italian.
