Not hiding his anger, captain Harry Manenti stated that Italy is on a strong “trajectory” but that it could stall if they do not receive enough regular games at this level.
Italy faced the West Indies in their fourth and final T20 World Cup match at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday.
Italy had numerous memorable moments, including their historic first-ever triumph in the T20 World Cup against Nepal and their terrifying scare of two-time champions England, despite their 42-run loss to the West Indies.
They also had their moments against the West Indies, when they produced a fantastic comeback with the ball to limit them to 165/6 after the two-time champions had appeared to be headed for a total of 200 or more at one point.
“It’s not always the big dogs who win those games and who challenge and I think it’s exciting for the World Cup. I think for the Associated Nations it is hard, and it’s not going to change overnight. It’s a work in progress for a lot of them,” PTI quoted Manenti as saying after the match.
Manenti believes the greater issue now is ensuring that their progress doesn’t stall because of a lack of opportunities after pushing elite Test teams close.
“We’re on a really good trajectory. It’d be nice for us to keep tracking in that trajectory and not just drop off like a lot of countries and a lot of teams have over the years. If it stops now, for other Associate nations as well, not just us, but if it stops now, it’s very hard for us to continue to break through like we are,” said the skipper.
Manenti emphasized the difficulty associate nations have, stating that improvement could halt if opportunities do not frequently occur at this level. Their next T20 assignment is probably not until 2027.
“The next thing we’ve got is in August, in a one-day series of a few blocks. That’s our next stepping stone in one-day cricket. Our next T20 game would be in 2027 probably, so it probably says enough as in where we are at the moment.”
Manenti cited Italy’s ascent in just 18 months, from playing against Croatia, Turkey, and Luxembourg on artificial turf to challenging England and the West Indies. Although he acknowledged that more regular exposure at the highest level is necessary for continued growth, he called it “exciting” for both the ICC and associate cricket.
“It’s not easy to go from the lowest level of international cricket to the top in the space of 18 months. I think if you looked around world cricket and who’s done a really good job, I think Italy would be right up there. To go from 18 months ago playing on synthetic grounds against Croatia and Turkey and Luxembourg to playing against England and West Indies and probably for 90% of both games we should have won those fixtures I would say. I think that’s exciting from both ICC, Italy Cricket,” he said.
John Davison, the coach of Italy, acknowledged that his team “probably leaked a few runs” during crucial situations.
“A couple of the West Indian guys were nibbling a little bit on the same and bowled with good skill. We probably leaked a few runs, bowled a little bit wide to Shai Hope. And then with the bat, we just didn’t get going. We needed someone to get in and score a 60-plus, but we didn’t really find any rhythm with the bat. so it was a little bit of disappointing,” Davison said.
