Gareth Berg appointed player-coach of Italy

The Italian Cricket Federation has announced Gareth Berg as head coach of the Italian national team. Berg will take on the role whilst still representing Italy at an international level, and Northamptonshire in England’s County Championship.

Berg will work along side former Italy and Sydney Thunder allrounder Carl Sandri, who will be high performance coach.

In a press release, Berg said ‘[I am] very honoured to have been appointed as Head Coach of our national team, alongside Carl Sandri as Senior High Performance Coach. We have an excellent management set-up and coaching structure to begin paving the way for great things for the future of Italian Cricket. We want to take professionalism and passion for playing to the next level with our national team. I want to inspire the next generation of Italian cricketers and leave a legacy for them to be proud of, for them to grow up wanting to represent their national team – just as we do. Forza Azzurri!’

Over his career to date, Berg has accumulated 5,000 first class runs and 279 wickets. The allrounder has been part of the Italian squad since 2012. Berg last played for the Azzuri at CWC Challenge League B in 2019.

Berg and Sandri take on their new roles ahead of an important year for the Italian national team. The Azzuri will travel to Finland in July to take on Group A of the European T20 World Cup qualifiers. Success would see the team advance to the European final, played in Spain in October, where they would face Jersey and the other group winners for a place in the global qualifier. The Italian squad will also travel to Jersey in September for the second leg of CWC Challenge League B. Italy are currently third in their group, following two wins during the first leg in Oman in December 2019.

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