Joe Burns, the Australian cricketer who represented Italy through his mother’s heritage, has been stripped of his captaincy and left out of the squad for Italy’s debut appearance at the T20 World Cup next year. Burns had a difficult relationship with the Italian cricket federation. The combination of those factors appears to have finally reached a tipping point, resulting in today’s decision.
Burns, 36, has an incredible international career. From 2014 until 2020, he wore the green and gold of Australia in 23 Test matches and six one-day internationals. When calling up Nicolato’s talent to represent his late brother’s Italian national team in May 2024. Since then, though, he has been on the field in eight T20 matches for Italy. He even cracked an unbeaten 113 in the Europe Qualifier Group A final victory over Romania! Due to his leadership, Italy qualified for the T20 World Cup. They earned an automatic berth to the 20-team tournament, set to be hosted in India and Sri Lanka.
Despite his contributions during qualifying, Burns’ exclusion from the upcoming T20 World Cup roster raises questions about his future with the team. The Italian federation has stated that the decision to remove him was made “solely in the interest of the national team’s preparation and serenity ahead of this historic event.” This reflects their intention to “ensure stability, harmony and continuity for the team” as they approach this significant milestone.
So, in a bit of a twist, Burns was left out of the team for 2026 qualifying game preparations. He had previously played four T20s for Italy as they mounted an unsuccessful bid to qualify for the 2024 T20 World Cup. The federation’s decision is a remarkable reversal of priorities. They have since turned their attention to shoring up their roster ahead of the powerful tournament.
Burns maintains that he did accept an offer and has documentation to support that assertion. It is a heavy loss for Italian cricket, as his departure from the captaincy draws attention to wider issues within the Italian cricket federation. Reports indicate that there have been several conflicts that have soured their relationship for years.
Born in South Africa, Burns made an immediate impression with his talents on the pitch. As he did, of course, throughout the tournament, he revealed his extraordinary emotional investment in representing Italy. His switch to represent Italy has caused a stir in some quarters due to its personal nature. In doing so, he is taking a further recess from his leadership responsibilities. Only time will tell how this momentous decision will impact Aru’s individual career and that of the Azzurri collective.
Leave a Reply