Forza Azzurri: Simone Gambino talks Italian Cricket, T20 World Cup and Espatriati

AC Milan, Inter Milan and Genoa. Some of the most famous and decorated clubs in Italian football began their lives as cricket clubs!

The joint cricket and football clubs were founded by British migrant workers who had come over to northern Italy to work in the textile industry in the late 1800s. However, as Football became the national obsession, cricket withered away into complete obscurity, pursued by a declining number of dedicated enthusiasts.

So, it is only fitting that after missing out on Football World Cup qualification for 2018 and 2022, a rejuvenated Azzurri cricket team, powered by expats of Italian heritage and domestic cricketers of South Asian backgrounds, has qualified for the 20-team 2026 T20 World Cup.

It is a monumental and historic achievement for the Italians, being the first time ever that they will participate in an ICC world event.

Qualification

“You have a moment in which you feel pure elation and then after that you feel completely empty. In my case, it’s the achievement of a lifetime,” exclaims Simone Gambino, chatting to Emerging Cricket.

The 67-year-old is the founder and honorary President of Federazione Cricket Italiana (FCRI). For a man who has played an integral part in Italy’s ascension to ICC membership in 1984 and remains involved in its affairs, it was a highly personal and emotional experience to see his beloved Italy make cricketing history.

He concedes that prior to the European qualifier, most cricket fans would have picked Scotland and Netherlands as favourites to progress. “However, I thought that we had a better chance than two years ago. And to be honest, we were lucky that we won against Guernsey by a huge margin. That gave us a healthy Net Run Rate boost. Then we beat Scotland and Jersey did us a favour by defeating the Scots on the last day”, he chuckles.

Gambino is referring to the points table where Italy and Jersey finished equal on 5 points after four games, but Italy’s superior NRR of 0.612 saw them qualify over Jersey’s 0.306. The Azzurri had come close in 2023 as well, with defeats to Scotland and Ireland (Netherlands had already qualified automatically) consigning them to a third placed finish. This time around they went one step further to become the latest debutant in ICC world events.

Key Contributors

For the Italians, Harry Manenti was the standout performer with both bat and ball. The 24-year-old all-rounder plies his trade in the Australian domestic circuit and is a fringe player at Big Bash level. But here, he was a revelation, finishing as the highest wicket taker in the qualifier with 8 wickets at 9.62. He also topped the run scoring charts for his team with 83 runs at 27.66. Grant Stewart’s brisk 44 not out, coupled with county regular Emilio Gay’s blistering 50 off just 21 balls, were other important contributions which proved pivotal in securing Italy’s crucial victory against the Scots.

Speaking to several agencies, former Australian Test opener and current Azzurri skipper Joe Burns expressed pride at the World Cup qualification and wished that the team would be a “beacon for Italians” everywhere. He qualified to represent the side through his heritage but had to serve a three-year cooling-off period from his final Australia appearance in 2020, before making his Italian debut last year.

In fact, there is a heavy Australian contingent in the team with seven out of the starting XI hailing from the land Down Under. This includes Harry’s brother Ben, a Sheffield Shield winner with South Australia and a Big Bash regular, as well as Grant Stewart, Thomas Draca and brothers Justin and Anthony Mosca.

The Azzurri are also flying high in the current cycle of the Cricket World Cup Challenge League, occupying second position on the Group B table after ten games. Here, Marcus Campopiano (329 runs at 54.83) and Emilio Gay (269 runs aty 134.5) are the chief run-getters. While on the bowling front, the wickets have been shared amongst Crishan Kalugamage, Gareth Berg, Jaspreet Singh, Rakibul Hasan and Grant Stewart.

Expats and Player Recruitment

Despite their fairytale success story, the Italians have also attracted their fair share of criticism from some cricket fans, mainly due to the “espatriati” (expat) nature of the team. Gambino strikes a diplomatic tone when this subject is raised.

“Look, the criticism is true. There is nothing more stupid than trying to hide things as they are. There are no Italian homegrown players in our team, because there is no culture of the game in my country.”

“With cricket in non-traditional nations, one can foster development financially and technically, but it takes time to build a local cricket culture. For many Associates, there is no other option. If we want to stay at that level, we have to rely on second hand players.”

Gambino stresses that for things to change, FCRI must improve the dire state of cricket infrastructure and get the sport into the school system.

“Those are our two main priorities beyond the World Cup. We need proper turf pitches and appropriately sized grounds. We need to introduce cricket to local Italian boys through their schools. Then only can we get homegrown Italian players. These are big challenges because funds are limited. But participating in a World Cup certainly gives us something to build on.”

Breaking the Culture Barrier

Domestically, the cricket scene is mainly centred around the three cities of Rome, Milan and Brescia. The aforementioned cities all house large numbers of South Asian migrants, particularly Brescia where foreign-born residents constitute a significant proportion of the local population. While this is a boon for cricket activities, it also elicits resistance from local Italians.

“It is sad. They see the migrants, they antagonize them. Cricket is unfortunately seen as the sport of the immigrants, which is a huge barrier. I remember when I was chairman at FCRI, I used to go to Brescia and the police would always intervene at some game, wanting to check something. And then when I turned up, they would be surprised to see a full Italian, very educated person in charge and realise that they were making themselves look stupid,” says Gambino.

However, despite the sport’s niche status, Italy’s qualification did receive some media attention back home. It was mentioned on national radio and was featured as a news item on large sporting websites such as SNAI and ANSA.

As for the man himself, Gambino states that he got introduced to Cricket through his American grandfather, Julius H. White, who moved to London in the 1960s. “I used to visit London for my summer holidays and watch cricket with my grandfather during my teenage years. He was American but he grew to love the sport. He used to tease me about various quirky aspects of cricket such as the concept of follow-on and fielding positions such as silly point.”

Gambino also got into playing cricket but admits that his skills were rather limited. “I am the only player in the history of the game who could keep wicket to his own bowling. I used to bowl so slow,” he laughs.

Nevertheless, he was an influential man in Italian cricketing circles and was instrumental in Italy gaining Affiliate membership with the ICC in 1984.

2026 T20 World Cup

Now four decades later, after the Azzurri’s World Cup qualification, the honorary President is looking forward to an India and Sri Lanka trip in 2026, as an official FCRI representative. “I should be the head of delegation. It will be an honour to travel there, hopefully I get to meet Sonia Gandhi. She was born only 50 kilometres from where I am now,” he says with a grin.

Lastly, Gambino has a parting message for ICC, the global governing body. “Our qualification shows that cricket is growing as a sport around the world. There is no reason why in future the T20 World Cup cannot have 32 teams. Unlike ODIs, it’s a quick format and if we want to make cricket truly global, it is the way to go.”

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