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Aussie cricketer leads the Italian team to their 1st World Cup

Aussie cricketer leads the Italian team to their 1st World Cup
Joe Burns started his cricketing journey playing for Australia but came into his own as the captain of the Italian cricket team. A story of both personal and professional strife culminating in the creation of history.
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Captain Joe Burns’ intercontinental cricketing journey

The Italian men’s cricket team has achieved what its far more celebrated football counterpart hasn't in over a decade: a World Cup qualification. They are all set to feature in the 2026 T20 World Cup, to be jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka. Intriguingly, their captain Joe Burns has a connection with both countries.

In 2014, Joe Burns made his international cricket debut for Australia, in what turned out to be MS Dhoni’s final Test match. Yes, Burns was then playing for Australia and is now set to lead Italy at the T20 World Cup next year.

Born and brought up in Brisbane, Queensland, Burns, has Italian heritage through his mother. Post 2020, he had not received an opportunity to play for Australia and was not enjoying cricket. Following the 2023-24 season, he had reportedly not even been offered a contract by his state team of Queensland. Then, a family tragedy hit.

Joe’s brother Dominic Burns passed away in February 2024. Grief took its toll. During this tough period, Joe found emotional support from his Italian family. A few months later, he decided to ply his trade in Italy. “This is for the people who I know will be looking down proudly from above” wrote Joe Burns on social media as he announced that he was going to play for Italy. Accompanying those words was the picture of his Italian jersey numbered 85, the number that Dominic used to wear while playing club cricket in Brisbane.

All set to create history

Joe Burns played Tests as well as ODIs for Australia but never got to play in the T20Is. On June 9, 2024, when he first took the field for Italy, he was also making his T20I debut. Burns has played in T20 leagues around the world: from the Big Bash League in Australia, the T20 Blast in England, ILT20 in UAE to the Pakistan Super League. However, Burns’ first T20 century came in Italian colours, scoring 108 not out in 55 balls against Romania.

Incidentally, Burns’ last Australian Test match was against India. In the 23 Tests and 6 ODIs he played for Australia, Burns scored a total of 4 centuries. His highest score of 180 came against Sri Lanka. With all this training and armour, Captain Burns is gearing up to lead Italy towards a new horizon in the 2026 T20 World Cup.

*This article has been curated by Hook. All claims and opinions expressed belong to the original author. Hook does not verify or endorse the information presented and is not responsible for its accuracy.*

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