T20 WC: Nothing To Lose, Everything To Gain – Italy Prepares For Its Moment In Spotlight

T20 WC: Nothing to lose, everything to gain – Italy prepares for its moment in spotlight (Image Source: IANS)

When Herbert Kilpin: When Herbert Kilpin founded the Milan Football and Cricket Club in 1899, the Englishman could scarcely have imagined that 127 years later, an Italian cricket team would play in a cricket World Cup. Under the Monday morning sunshine at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, Italy will make its Men’s T20 World Cup debut against Scotland, a game that will be broadcasted to millions across the globe.

AC Milan may have risen as a footballing giant, but cricket faded from Italy’s sporting stage. On Monday, the Azzurri will step into their World Cup debut and mark a seismic chapter in their remarkable cricketing journey. Ranked 27th in the men’s T20I rankings, Italy comprises of players born outside the country, yet bound by Italian heritage and an unwavering commitment to rewrite the cricketing narrative in a football-obsessed nation.

“That can be a positive—you're getting players from all different types of backgrounds in terms of cricketing upbringing and different cultures who have all bought into this Italian culture, whether it's through living in the country for up to 15 or 17 years like a few of the home-based players, or it's through an Italian parent, or grandparent.

“Everybody has really embraced the Italian side of their families, and that's one thing that the players and staff are very passionate about is trying to drive Italian cricket forward through the use of sport. Obviously, a cricket World Cup in India is probably the biggest World Cup there is.

“So, it's great that we've been able to qualify, and hopefully we can play well, get some good victories and get some good results and people start to take Italian cricket a little seriously – I mean, a little bit more seriously,” said Kevin O’Brien, Italy’s assistant coach, to IANS in an exclusive conversation ahead of the side starting its Group C campaign.

The path for Italy, who have 4,000 registered players in approximately 80 clubs in a two-tier league system, to reach this historic moment has been arduous – they came agonisingly close to qualifying for the 2024 edition. But they finally secured qualification for this showpiece event in the Europe qualifiers last July with a stunning 12-run win over Scotland.

Recent warm-up victories over Canada (by 10 runs) and UAE (by 112 runs) in a very warm and humid Chennai have only bolstered confidence. The Azzurri, who arrived in India on February 1, also defeated Ireland in a pre-tournament game in Dubai by chasing down 157 to record their first-ever victory over a full ICC member.

Keeping the sub-continental conditions in mind, Italy had a training camp in November in Dubai for about eight or nine days and managed to play four practice games there against local teams. On January 16, the World Cup squad came to Dubai again for a training and preparation camp, before playing games against Ireland and Namibia.

O'Brien's role in the Italian set-up is shaped around the side’s touring schedule rather than full-time employment. “Well, it's not full-time. It basically revolves around the tours that we have. I do try and get to Italy a couple of times during the year, winter-time especially, to do some work with the home-based players.

“Ultimately that involves me going around maybe a couple of weekends in the winter and doing some high-performance camps and training camps with the home-based players. But it mainly revolves around going on tour.

“When the guys meet up, when we have either a 50-odd cricket tour or a T20 tour, I usually go on tour with them. So I've been with Italy now for three and a half years. I've really enjoyed my time so far. But hopefully this World Cup can be the start of something really positive and memorable for Italian cricket,” he said.

Apart from O’Brien, Italy also has coaches with extensive prior World Cup experience - John Davidson and Dougie Brown. “Having one coach with World Cup experience is very beneficial, but having three is even more beneficial. The real positive thing about our coaching staff is we've experienced associate cricket as players.

“We've experienced qualifying for World Cups and performing at World Cups as players. So being able to give that knowledge and information to our current players, it's been pretty good. The players are obviously very accepting and welcoming of all that advice that we have.

“But ultimately, they do have to make decisions themselves at times and certainly within the game. Once the match starts, we as a coaching staff have full confidence that the players will make those good decisions at the right time,” he added.

Many of Italy’s players train and play abroad – captain Wayne Madsen plays for Derbyshire, Harry and Ben Manenti, both veterans of Australia's Big Bash League (with Ben a part of South Australia's Sheffield Shield triumph), as well as Justin and Anthony Mosca.

Grant Stewart, an Australian-born seamer, represents Kent in English domestic cricket, adds further professional nous, so as Jon Jon Smuts, who previously played for South Africa. Players like Crishan Kalugamage and Jaspreet Singh have day jobs to juggle as pizza maker and Uber driver respectively.

“We're very and absolutely fortunate to have four or five fully professional players, whether it's players based in England, Australia or South Africa. They're bringing a lot of playing experience, but they're also bringing a lot of experience in terms of how to deal with pressures and playing in front of TV, etc. and big crowds.

“The guys who have full-time jobs or a couple of full-time jobs, certainly with the local players, it's a great opportunity for them to see cricket in a different light. They've probably watched a lot of cricket on TV and seen big crowds at World Cups and at the franchise tournaments, or probably watched a lot of cricket on TV, but now people are going to be watching them.

“So that's not anything to be worried or nervous about. It's important that the players realise it's a great opportunity for them to showcase their skills personally and ultimately show Italian cricket has hopefully got a strong future,” added O’Brien, especially with Italy roping in a sports psychologist.

With Italy in a daunting Group C, featuring Scotland, Nepal, as well as two-time champions England and the West Indies, it may look like a mismatch on paper. But O'Brien is embracing Italy’s underdog status.

“With the way we're playing at the moment and the experience we have and the leadership under Wayne, we've got good and high expectations. We've absolutely no reason to fear any of the other teams in our group.

“We know, yes, they're good teams and they're teams that have played in the World Cups before and are more experienced than us at World Cups, but ultimately that's an advantage for us. We have nothing to lose in these four games. A lot of people didn't know Italy had a cricket team until about three weeks ago.

“So that's something that we can really use to our advantage and use it. We've got nothing to lose in this tournament, but we have everything to gain if we can stay calm and make good decisions at the right time. Ultimately, if we get a few wins, it's going to put Italian cricket a few steps forward,” said O’Brien.

The heartbreak of not qualifying for the 2024 edition brought about a transformation towards physical fitness, explained O'Brien. "A lot of extra effort has gone in. With the playing group, a lot of emphasis was put on fitness and getting stronger, quicker, more agile and flexible. The guys have really bought into that aspect of the game and are really committed to trying to have the fitness levels like the professional teams.

"Ultimately, yes, we don't have a full squad of professional players. We don't have the facilities in Rome or Bologna that people would like. But you can control yourself, fitness levels and strength, which is very easily done in the gym. The guys have really bought into that.

“So that's one of the main differences from the squad from the 2023 qualifiers is the fitness levels. If your fitness levels are a lot better, your skills and your execution under pressure become a lot better and we were able to showcase that in the qualifiers six-seven months ago," he said.

O'Brien, the former Ireland batting great etched his name in cricketing folklore by smashing the then-fastest ODI World Cup century – off just 50 balls – as the side pulled off one of cricket's greatest upsets by defeating England in Bengaluru in 2011. Thus, O'Brien's unique perspective allows him to draw instructive comparisons between the cricketing journeys of Italy and Ireland.

“It's a really important and exciting time to be involved with Italian cricket. You mentioned the 2007 World Cup with Ireland and Italy cricket is in a very similar position. Yes, the facilities in Ireland at that time and the grassroot cricket was a lot stronger and I'm not denying that.

“But the ability and the talent on the field between both teams, the Irish 2007 team and this current Italian side, the talent and match winners that both sides have, it's very similar. We've seen where Irish cricket has gone in the last 17-18 years. I'm not sitting here saying that in 18 years, Italy will be a Test playing nation.

“It's a really important and exciting time to be involved with Italian cricket. You mentioned the 2007 World Cup with Ireland and Italy cricket is in a very similar position. Yes, the facilities in Ireland at that time and the grassroot cricket was a lot stronger and I'm not denying that.

“That means a bright future, which will give us a lot more games to play, 50-over as well as T20 games and ultimately more funding from the ICC, which can then be reinvested into grassroots cricket, the facilities locally within the country and try and get a centre where the home-based players can train on grass to be a more high-performance, high-profile squad,” concluded O’Brien.

Article Source: IANS