BRISBANE: When Joe Burns joined the Italian team for his first training session, he didn’t know what to expect. The Australian-born cricketer with Italian heritage had decided to represent the European nation earlier this year. It was his first time with the team, and the facility was unlike anything he had experienced before.
“It was our first training session. So, we turned up and it was in the middle of a tomato farm,” Burns recalls in a conversation with this daily. “Associate cricket in general, but in particular in Europe, the grounds are privately owned. So, you get a lot of different variations to where you play,” he added.
This was in the middle of 2024. In the time since, Italy have qualified for the ICC 2026 men’s T20 World Cup European Region final — Burns smashed a century in the Europe Sub-regional Qualifiers final against Romania to make sure of it — and will be competing with teams like Netherlands and Scotland next year to book a ticket for the global event.
Now, that is not the full story. Burns, while being the biggest name from Australian cricket to have made the move, it is just the beginning. Post the World War II, hundreds of thousands of Italians migrated to Australia. Those families, including the grandparents of Burns, took a leap of faith in pursuit of a better life. While the trend continued till the early 1970s before gradually decreasing, people with Italian heritage are a significant part of the Australian population. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, there are over 150K Italian heritage people (163, 326 as per 2021 Census) living in the country.
Many among them have been a part of the Australian cricketing culture and system, including Michael and Peter di Venuto brothers. While the former is the assistant coach with the Australian men’s cricket team, latter holds the same position for Italy. The brothers with Italian heritage have represented the European nation as well. And Peter, in particular, is now co-ordinating and helping out other Italian origin Australians to pursue their dream of playing for Italy.
Apart from Burns, Ben and Henry Manenti brothers, Thomas Draca, who set social media abuzz when he was named in the IPL auction list, have already shifted allegiances to Italy from Australia. Meanwhile, Elyse Villani and Chloe Piparo among women and Corey Rocchiccioli, who is considered to be the potential successor of Nathan Lyon, are also Italian origin players who are eligible should they make choice. As things stand, players should not have represented a full-member nation for three years to switch teams. However, these players while representing Italy, will still be a local player in Sheffield Shield and be eligible to play for Australia if selected.
This presents the Italian origin Australians an opportunity to explore avenues and even have a chance at playing in a World Cup and franchise leagues around the globe. What has also helped and convinced the players to make the decision is the work Italian Cricket Federation has put in over the past few years. “There are over 100 clubs now in Italy that are playing in formal competitions,” Peter tells this daily before adding,
“A number of those are expats from the subcontinent that are playing within Europe and within Italy. In the last few years, this current administration of the federation have really focused on trying to harness these groups of people to form clubs, to put them into formal competitions, to help manage and run the competitions with umpires and supporting them with cricket balls, to be able to help create additional funding from the government as a result of the game developing.”
Burns also acknowledges the effort from Asian immigrants in growing the sport's popularity. “There's an opportunity for so many subcontinent guys to come over to Italy and grow the game and the playing opportunities it creates. The pathways for Indians, Pakistanis, Sri Lankans into our national team,” he adds.
What has also helped in getting funding from the government is the inclusion of cricket in the Olympics. Italian National Olympic Committee, also known as CONI, has apparently contacted the cricket association regarding getting a dedicated ground with a dressing room and training facilities for the sport.
“One thing that the Test playing nations have an obligation to do, in my opinion, is help develop the game globally. The fact that it's going to be in the Olympics in LA and then in Brisbane means it is a fully-fledged Olympic sport. That's an exciting opportunity for all countries,” says Peter.
While the opportunities to grow and develop are on one side, there is obviously an emotional side to this as well. From connecting with your roots to bringing cricketers from Italy to Australia to train and play at various domestic levels, there is more.
Peter remembers the first time his brother Michael got the Australia call-up. “The whole Italian community in Hobart all of a sudden started to follow more closely the game of cricket because they were very proud of the fact that an Italian boy had made it onto the global stage, representing the new country that they'd come here to forge a new life at. It was incredible to see the response from the local Italian community here in Hobart. My grandmother became an avid fan of cricket and through her 70s and 80s would be going to Shield matches after Michael retired,” says Peter.
“Family is very important to Italians and having an understanding of your roots and where you come from. Every time I go to Italy, I feel very connected. The fact that I have an opportunity to contribute to the development of this game, which we all have grown up with as Australians and love, is a great thing to be able to be involved in terms of assisting Italy's progress and hopefully, a number of people in the country falling in love with the game as well,” he says.
The first step towards that would be the qualification for the 2026 men’s T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka. Burns, who was named captain of Italy last week, wants to focus on prepping for the Regional qualifier final while trying to develop the facilities and the grounds to provide the best cricket they can. “It's a unique team in that, obviously, we've got cricketers in Australia, South Africa, England. We have a great bunch of subcontinent players that play locally in Italy as well. They've all got subtle differences in the way that we've been brought up playing the game. And it makes our team really exciting. Ultimately, our goal is to create a legacy for Italian cricket going into the World Cup, but also compete really, really well. We feel we're one of the strongest teams in Europe. We just have to go out there and show it now.”