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In last week’s column, I commented on the seemingly fragmented nature of cricket in Europe outside of the UK and Ireland.
This may have been a disservice to the International Cricket Council Europe, which is the region’s administrative and governing body, consisting of 34 member associations.
It was established in 2008 to succeed the independent European Cricket Council and to coordinate cricket development across its member nations under the ICC’s global governance model. This made it the fifth ICC region.
ICC Africa has 22 members, ICC Americas, combing both north and south, has 17, ICC Asia has 24, including five full members, whilst ICC East Asia-Pacific has 11, including Australia and New Zealand.
In Europe, 13 new members have joined since 2000, making it the largest ICC region by member numbers. They range from two ICC full members — England/Wales and Ireland — to established associate members, including Scotland and the Netherlands, through to the newest associate in 2015, Serbia.
It may be more accurate to describe European cricket as diverse rather than fragmented, although the creation of a separate European Cricket Association in 2024 with 13 members is curious.
These developments reflect cricket’s remarkable, yet almost unseen spread across continental Europe. There will be many people, unknowing of the game, who will not believe that cricket has now reached nations where it had barely existed a few decades ago.
In Germany, for example, participation growth increased by 89 percent between 2020-2025, whilst a similar growth in women’s participation has occurred since 2020. The timing has coincided with the ICC’s global push to expand beyond traditional boundaries.
One of the driving forces behind European growth has been changing demographics.
Immigration from cricket-playing nations had introduced intrinsic cricket knowledge and passion to European communities. Unlike other major cricket-playing nations, to which the game was introduced through colonial influence, European cricket developed through voluntary adoption and migration patterns.
This created diverse playing standards and administrative structures that has required harmonization. It has also led to an adaptation of shorter formats suited to European climates, culture and spectator preferences.
It is into this environment that the ETPL has launched and a proposal for a new T10 men’s tournament was announced last week. This is to be held at the Roma ground in the south of Rome, between Nov. 7 and 15 this year.
Its promoters are Aamir Akhtar and Nadeem Shahid working under the corporate umbrella of Apex T10, registered in the UK in 2026. Its objective is to develop cricket in associate territories through franchise competitions tailored to local conditions.
Akhtar represented Nepal at the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup in 2000 before going on to represent his country at senior level. Shahid played professional cricket for both Essex and Surrey, being part of five county championship winning teams.
In 2009 he moved to South Africa where he has set up and run various businesses. I caught up with him whilst he was in England meeting old contacts. One particular mission was to glean advice on soil samples taken from the pitches to be used for the tournament.
Time is tight. Six city-based franchise teams are planned — Rome, Venice, Milan, Florence, Naples and Bologna, with the first three already secured. Now, the base for potential investors has spread more widely with a particular focus on the Gulf region.
Italia T10 has been fully endorsed by the Italian Cricket Federation, a necessary prerequisite for ICC sanctioning. Shahid explained that the choice of the T10 format is deliberate.
Soccer is the passion in Italy against which cricket struggles to compete or coexist. Rugby has grown in popularity in the last 40 years. Both are short-format sports and Shahid reasons that any cricket match which has a longer duration than 80 to 90 minutes will not gain a foothold. This is much in line with the thinking of ICC Europe.
Another area of harmony in approach is to build and develop local capacity and talent. Italy lacks the facilities infrastructure and it will take time to put the necessary structures into place. Shahid says that there is a proposal to introduce cricket into the school system and curricula.
In the more immediate future, Italia T10 will mandate that each 14-man squad must contain 10 Italians, of which two are to be under 19. Six marquee players are allowed. A natural reaction would be to ask if there are enough Italian cricketers to support six franchise teams.
In early July 2024, my column focused on the history and development of Italian cricket, drawing upon the role of Simone Gambino in shaping its recent development.
As president of Italian Cricket Federation, he fought a long battle over cricket gaining formal acceptance in Italy that was finally obtained in 1997. There followed another battle, this time with the ICC over player eligibility. At the time, only physical birth and residency counted for eligibility.
Gambino wanted to include citizenship. At an ICC World Cup qualifying event in 2001, the ICC ruled that four Italian citizens were ineligible due to their non-residency in Italy. The team was withdrawn.
Gambino was aware that the ICC wanted to join the International Olympic Committee. This would require adaptation of its eligibility rules to include citizenship. A compromise prevailed by which Italy was allowed to withdraw without sanction and the ICC undertook to fully revise its eligibility rules, which it did.
Gambino took further advantage of this in December 2002, when the federation passed a rule that the children of parents from the Indian subcontinent who had emigrated to Italy and who wished to play cricket should be recognized as if they were Italian citizens. Previously, they were barred from playing cricket for Italy because they did not possess Italian citizenship.
The benefits of these moves were realized when Italy qualified for the 2026 T20 World Cup, securing one win against Nepal. Before the memories of this first-time achievement fade, Italia T10 is seeking to build on it.
The players have become better known and experienced, bringing these attributes to the tournament. They will be allocated across the franchises to ensure even distribution of talent.
The tournament will be streamed live to more than 30 countries, providing significant international reach for the competition and connecting Italian cricket with the wider international cricket community.
Currently, there are over 70 teams playing both men’s and women’s cricket in structured competitions in Italy, along with age-group competitions. T10 cricket lowers the barriers to entry for people unfamiliar with the game, especially in a country which is building on a limited base.
Italia T10 aims to accelerate the development of cricket’s profile in Italy, creating new development pathways for players and clubs and contributing to raising the standard of domestic competition. Thought has been given to a women’s event in future.
However, for now, the attraction of investment for the remaining three franchises is needed. European cricket is growing and is no longer an afterthought, with Italy a prime example. Potential investors need only look at the Italian men’s team qualification to the 2026 World Cup as evidence of this.
Further proof of this came last month when it topped the Challenge League Group B in the qualification process for the 2027 One Day World Cup. Italian cricket is on an upward trend, a good place to be for investors.
