T20 World Cup 2026: The Azzurri are here! The fall and rise of Italian cricket

New Delhi: Cricket arrived in Italy long before it ever found an audience.

Introduced by British sailors, diplomats and merchants, the game took root in pockets of Italian society before being overshadowed by football and, later, by political ideology. For decades, it survived on the fringes, sustained by expatriates and a small group of "believers". Yet the sport never disappeared.

On February 9, at the iconic Eden Gardens, Italy will lock horns against Scotland, who have featured in the last four editions of the T20 World Cup but are playing this one only because Bangladesh pulled out. Italy are in Group C at the 2026 T20 World Cup alongside Scotland, England, Nepal and the West Indies.




The squad reflects a striking blend of cultures and life stories, with players drawn from multiple countries and continents. Alongside Italians of Indian heritage are players with Pakistani and Sri Lankan roots, as well as from South Africa, England and Australia.

Their circumstances vary just as widely. Some earn their living from the game, others balance semi-professional commitments or franchise cricket, while several juggle cricket with everyday jobs, from teaching and physiotherapy to hotel work.

The Azzurri will be led by 42-year-old Wayne Madsen. The 15-member squad also includes former South African international JJ Smuts, and two pairs of brothers, Harry Manenti and Benjamin Manenti, and Anthony Mosca and Justin Mosca.

The captain is buoyant and has warned that they are not going to be pushovers.

“We’re looking to win games, and we believe we have the quality to play good cricket,” Madsen tells TimesofIndia.com from Dubai, where they played a three-match series against Ireland.

“The boys have been together for a while and our preparation has been very good, so we’re confident and hopeful.”

The history

Cricket in Italy goes back centuries.

Admiral Horatio Nelson arrived in Naples in 1793 with a clear objective, to secure reinforcements for the British Mediterranean fleet during the war against Revolutionary France. The mission succeeded, with more than 6,000 Neapolitan soldiers sent to Toulon in support of the British. During their stay in the Kingdom of Naples, Nelson and the sailors aboard HMS Agamemnon found ways to fill their spare time, leading to what is believed to be the first recorded cricket match played on Italian soil.

A century later, in 1893, English consuls established the Genoa Cricket and Athletic Club. Initially focused on cricket, the club’s direction shifted in 1897 when James Richardson Spensley championed football. Genoa soon became better known for the new sport and won Italy’s first football championship in 1898.

In 1899, Herbert Kilpin, considered the first English footballer to play abroad, met businessman Alfred Edwards in a Florence tavern and persuaded him to fund a new club. That club, founded as Milan Cricket and Football Club, later became AC Milan. While cricket initially formed part of its identity, it was abandoned by 1919 as football took precedence.

Although cricket resurfaced briefly in the 1960s through informal tournaments in Rome, its English origins and Italy’s political climate ensured it remained on the margins, increasingly seen as a historical curiosity rather than a living sport.

Luca Bruno Malaspina, the CEO of the Italian Cricket Federation, says cricket in Italy has found its second wind and they are targeting schools as a starting point to make the sport popular.

“Cricket in Italy is growing from the ground up. Schools are the starting point, and through initiatives like the Scuola Attiva project, the number of schools involved in cricket is steadily increasing,” Malaspina tells TimesofIndia.com.

“This is where the connection with local communities begins, introducing the sport to young people, building familiarity, and turning cricket from something perceived as foreign into a game that feels increasingly Italian.”

Italy’s landmark moment

Interestingly, if you are a young Italian, you will witness Italy's cricket team play a World Cup before the Azzurri take the field for the FIFA World Cup. Italian football is in shambles and has failed to qualify for the World Cup in 2018 - for the first time since 1958 - and then again in 2022. They are now in danger of missing the 2026 edition as well.

On July 11, Jaspreet Singh, who hails from Phagwara in Punjab and moved to Italy in 2006, was in the middle of the most coveted moment in Italian cricket history. Jaspreet bowled the last ball of the men’s T20 World Cup Europe qualifier against the Netherlands. Although Italy lost the match by nine wickets, it sealed Italy’s first-ever qualification for the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup.

Jaspreet began by playing informal tape-ball games before finding his way to Bergamo Cricket Club, located about a 40-minute drive from his home in Telgate, a town about 60 kilometres north-east of Milan. His performances in competitions organised by the Italian Cricket Federation from the 2016–17 season helped fast-track his rise, leading to an international debut in 2019.

Now based largely in Birmingham, Jaspreet trains there and features in the Birmingham District Premier League. To pursue his cricket career, he was forced to give up working as an Uber driver in the UK.

The 32-year-old says the preparation for the World Cup has been spot on for the team and that he cannot wait to live his childhood dream.

“We had a very good training camp in Dubai in November, after which some of the squad travelled to Sri Lanka for another camp. We then returned to Dubai in mid-January and played our first bilateral series against Ireland, where we achieved our first-ever win against a Test-playing nation. We followed that up with another win against Namibia.

“The boys have been working extremely hard. We also have a couple of warm-up matches scheduled in India, so overall we are very happy with our preparations,” he tells TimesofIndia.com.

While the Italian Cricket Federation has placed strong emphasis on heritage for this tournament and the qualifying process, the goal is to get cricket back into the hearts and minds of Italy’s sport-loving public and encourage young Italian boys and girls to take it up.

Plans were put in place, and the Federation would now, far more than they had been doing, actively seek to encourage players of Italian heritage and connection to come play for the Azzurri in a bid to qualify for the 2026 T20 World Cup.

Lorea Haz Paz, president of the Italian Cricket Federation, reflects on Italy’s landmark achievement as the reward for years of dedication, sacrifice and steady progress, emphasising that the moment belonged to the players and the wider Italian cricket community rather than any individual.

“July 11 was a moment of immense joy. I am referring not only to myself, but to the work done by the players, years of commitment, sacrifice and continuous growth. The happiness was entirely for them and for all Italian cricketers who had been waiting for this milestone for a long time,” Haz Paz tells TimesofIndia.com.

The brains behind the renaissance

As mentioned, Italian cricket’s roots are quintessentially English. Yet, the squad is a mix of immigrants from across the cricketing world. The backroom staff mirrors this diversity. Head coach John Davison has played for Canada in the 2003 ODI World Cup and struck a 67-ball hundred against the West Indies. Then there is Kevin O’Brien, who has already been part of some World Cup epics for Ireland as an all-rounder, including a 50-ball hundred against England in the 2011 ODI World Cup.

Rakbir Hasan, the media manager, is from Dhaka, and is most likely the lone representative of his country of birth.

Hasan, a cricket tragic himself, explains how John Davison, Kevin O’Brien and Dougie Brown have prepared the Italy team to be battle-ready.

“Their experience is extremely valuable. Davison, O’Brien and Dougie Brown have already played in World Cups. They bring a level of professionalism and tactical awareness that is crucial in tournaments of this magnitude. They understand the pressures, the tempo and the small details that make the difference at this level, and that experience is something the whole group benefits from, especially the younger players,” he says.

Despite its rich and deep history in Italy, cricket was no longer at the forefront of Italian sporting culture. The sport once lost out to fascism as it was deemed un-Italian by Benito Mussolini. But it has fought its way back and is now ready to make some noise.

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