Previous Australian cricketer Joe Burns, now representing Italy, has led the group to get their maiden appearance in the 2026 T 20 World Mug.
Joe Burns played Examination and ODI cricket for Australia, including in 23 Examination suits and 6 ODI matches.
In 2014, at the Melbourne examination against India, he made his debut. Yes, that was the same match where MS Dhoni revealed his retirement from test cricket.
Burns didn’t locate to fix his place in the Australian group, he was always in and out of the team. So, in 2020, he retired from test cricket.
His very first and last test suit both protest India, and both at MCG.
Five years later on, at the age of 35, he once again began his cricketing journey, not for Australia however, for Italy. This time, he is not just a gamer, he is leading the group.
He made his T 20 international launching for Italy, as he did not play T 20 cricket for Australia.
In 2024, he transferred to Italy and made a decision to represent the Italian nationwide cricket team. He took control of the captaincy from Gareth Berg.
He selected the number 85 for his jersey, a number that holds deep meaning and sentiment for him. It was the jacket number and the birth year of his late brother Dominic, who sadly passed away in February 2024 Dominic was likewise a cricketer, betting the Northern Federals Sub-District Cricket Club.
In July 2025, under Burns’ captaincy, Italy got the 2026 T 20 held in India and Sri Lanka.
Italy is most popular in sports for its football tales like Paolo Maldini and Roberto Baggio, in addition to tennis stars such as Jannik Sinner and Jasmine Paolini.
No one ever before imagined Italy would qualify for the 2026 T 20 Globe Cup. As they are not permanent cricketers; they have to balance family, job, and the everyday difficulties of life, yet they still locate time to exercise cricket. Last year, Joe signed up with the team with hope and decision, and he supplied.
It’s a massive achievement for Italy, as the globe has actually never seen Italy play cricket similar to this. I, also, was unaware of their capacity until I got to know they had actually received the 2026 T 20 Globe Cup.
It’s excellent to see their T 20 Globe Mug trip under Joe Burns’ captaincy.