He last played for Australia in 2020.
In a recent development coming in, a former Australian Test opener has been appointed as the new captain of the Italy T20I team.
Dynamic right-hander Joe Burns, who has represented Australia in 23 Tests and six ODIs, will now take over the captaincy duties of the European nation in the shortest format.
Burns has not been part of the Australian national team for some time now and was also left out of the contracts offered by Queensland earlier this year, which likely led him to explore other options. However, it’s not uncommon for players from Test-playing nations to join lower-ranked teams to keep playing international cricket.
Burns played for Australia between 2014 and 2020 and made his final appearance in the Boxing Day Test against India in 2020 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
In 2024, Joe decided to switch allegiances to Italy, partly to honour his late brother, Dominic. With his mother’s Italian heritage, he became eligible to represent Italy and has already played five T20Is for his new team.
Italy is set to compete in the 2026 T20 World Cup Qualifiers next June, and it will be exciting to see whether Burns can guide them to their inaugural T20 World Cup appearance.
Burns has scored 211 runs in five innings for Italy in T20I cricket, maintaining an impressive average of 70.33. His highest score to date is an unbeaten 108*. Although he was dismissed for a duck in his most recent match against Singapore on November 16, Burns played a stellar knock of 82 against Uganda on November 13.
ALSO READ: Ben Stokes in Trouble After Expressing Displeasure at ICC Over Docking WTC Points
In addition to his batting prowess, Joe Burns is also a versatile bowler, capable of both medium pace and off-spin. In the game against Singapore, he delivered an outstanding performance with figures of 1/7 from three overs, which included a maiden over.
For more updates, follow Cricxtasy on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Telegram and YouTube.
