Whispers from Europe hint big European absence at T20 World Cup

Mentioning a new captain two-thirds of the way down a press release on your website in what the Instagram generation calls a soft launch, and no sign of the previous captain in any social media of a pre-tournament tour to UAE.

It’s a little strange no? Even for a team who have no experience of a World Cup in cricket?

Well, this whistle-blower has been reliably informed that there is a reason. Joe Burns, barring an 11th hour change, will not be at ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026. And it is not down to an injury.

Details beyond that remain unclear, with the rest of the story up for speculation.

It’s a trend all too common in Associate circles, where politics can seemingly fester more, given the lack of public outcry and media coverage from the outside. Little scrutinisation of every move, and no motivation to rectify through proper and right measures.

Too often the hard work of qualification is spoilt, as those who toiled to get their team to the promised land are often not on hand to see the fruits of their labour. Pummelled on the field, lambasted by the mass media off it, and the new eyeballs on the team (likely after not watching their qualification) naively wonder how this team got through in the first place.

Of course, there is still every chance Italy could be an exception, and in Wayne Madsen they have a fine player with years of experience both in T20 cricket and in the famous Azzurri blue.

Madsen missed the qualification campaign, and it is still believed his unavailability was solely due to county commitments, though with his return, the dynamic has changed.

Burns played under Italian mainstay Gareth Berg when he first featured for the team, at the sub-regional event on the pathway to T20 World Cup 2026, back in June 2024. The news of Burns’ inclusion was lost in the shuffle of cricket chat, primarily because the 2024 T20 World Cup being played in the USA and the Caribbean was going on at the same time.

There were rumours of a divide in the camp leading to Berg’s eventual exit from the Italian setup, ending a 13-year playing career for the team. Berg had also been a coach of the national team, though the regional final team played under a group that didn’t include him.

Burns took the captaincy for the European Regional Final sans Madsen, though reading between the lines, it appears Madsen had more runs on the board with the national federation and seemingly is the man to move them forward in India and Sri Lanka.

With this in mind, and again important to note this as speculation, one could understand if this change infuriated Burns, leading to an exit.

It’s fair to look at Burns nondescript Regional Final campaign with the bat with some consideration, though any chat of bad form pushing him out would be a red herring.

Is there more to be revealed? Every chance news comes to light soon.

Got a tip for the bell-ringer? Email ringerkb@gmail.com.

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