"AZZURRI" CRICKET TRIVIA

Cricket isn't really big news outside the 9 test playing nations.

Complex rules, a lack of history and a general passion for other sports have made it difficult for cricket to penetrate outside the traditional Commonwealth countries.

A small number of ICC associates - such as Ireland, Scotland, Holland, Canada or Kenya - occasionally qualify and compete in the World Cup, every four years...but the gap that separates them from the big boys is still very wide.

And yet...almost every country in the world has its own cricket team. Uruguay, Lithuania, Ukraine, Luxenburg...they all have cricket teams!! Of course, most of them are little more than amateurs playing for passion and not for money. But it's a fascinating world nonetheless.

The intention of this blog is to offer some insight into Italian cricket.

Italy is one of a bunch of nations who have never taken part in the World Cup, but have been improving steadily over the past decade or so...

They currently compete in Division 1 of the European Championship, alongside Ireland, Scotland, Holland, Denmark and Norway, as well as in Division 4 of the World Cricket League.

To start off, here’s a bit of trivia on the “Azzurri” that may interest you…(or may not, but I’m posting it just in case!!)

If any cricket supporters from other "associate" countries would like to share some info on their teams PLEASE DO! It would be great to hear from you...

1) The earliest record of cricket in Italy is a match played by Admiral Nelson’s sailors in Naples in 1793, as the locals looked on bewildered... Whether or not this encouraged any young Neapolitans to take up cricket is yet to be confirmed...

2) The mighty Bradman, believe it or not, had Italian blood... In 1826, his great-grandfather Emmanuel Danero became one of the first Italians to migrate to Australia. Born in the hyper-active port city of Genoa, Danero sailed the world from the age of 12 before settling in Australia, where he bought a couple of hotels. Apparently he fathered 25 children and outlived three wives.
On September 4, 1871, Danero's daughter Sophia Jane, whom he fathered illegitimately, gave birth to Emily Whatman – the mother of Don Bradman.

3) One of the biggest football teams in the world, AC Milan, actually started off as a cricket team. It was founded by two British expats from Nottingham, who called it “Milan cricket & football club”. Genoa FC has a similar story. The clubs subsequently forgot about cricket, however they both maintained the English name of the city (“Milan” and “Genoa”, as opposed to the Italian names “Milano” and “Genova”)

4) Lots of Italians don’t actually know what cricket is (they tend to confuse it with croquet, baseball and, strangely, polo!!). However, after recent dramatic events which have invested the Serie A football league (Calciopoli, stadium violence etc.), some Italians are growing increasingly wary of football, and are turning their attention to minor sports…including cricket. Also, the increasing “globalization” of Italy (with British and Asian people coming to live in the country, Italians moving abroad, and Italians moving back to Italy after living abroad…), Italy is coming into contact with cricket like never before. The Federazione Cricket Italiana (FCI) is trying to capitalize on this by investing heavily in the local cricket league and creating new facilities for youngsters. So there’s light at the end of the tunnel!
The media is also starting to raise its eyebrows, with articles on the IPL, the Ashes, the World Cup...and the Shane Warne text message scandal (!!!)

5) The Italian OD cricket team plays in blue and is nicknamed “Azzurri”, just like their football counterparts. These pictures are from the European Championships, held in Ireland in the summer.

6) Part of the team (as with most “lesser” European teams) is made up of expats, mainly from Sri Lanka curiously. The most notable is the talented all-rounder Thushara Kurukulasuriya (Italy’s Botham?), who may or may not have the longest name ever to have appeared on a cricket scoreboard. Other expats include Pakistan-born fast bowler Alauddin (Italy’s Shoaib Aktar...) and South African-born wicket-keeper Nicholas Northcote.

7) The captain of Italy, Joe Scuderi, was born in Australia and has played first-class cricket for South Australia and Lancashire. He is an inspirational captain and has contributed a lot to the rise of Italian cricket in recent years. At 40, he is still a mainstay of the Azzurri's batting lineup.

8) The local “Serie A” cricket competition has been dominated in recent years by Bologna-based team Pianoro. This year, however, saw a thrilling head-to-head between Pianoro and Rome-based Capannelle, who both finished on equal points.

9) The code phrase which told Allied troops of the assault on the monastery at Monte Cassino in Italy in March 1944 was "Bradman will be batting tomorrow". This has little to do with Italian cricket I know, but it’s interesting nevertheless…

10) There are several players on the big stage who have Italian heritage…Daniel Vettori of New Zealand; Michael Di Venuto of Durham (his brother actually played for Italy); Mark Pettini and Tony Palladino of Essex; Luke Ronchi and Patrick Molinari of Western Australia. If these players (after retirement perhaps?) decided to play for Italy, we may actually become a rather decent team…