The latest from Italy - The Coppa Italia Cricket Max and Under 13s title controversy (5 Dec 1999)

5 December 1999

The latest from Italy - The Coppa Italia Cricket Max and Under 13s title controversy

Dr. Simone Gambino provides the latest cricket news from Italy:

The end of season activity proved the best of 1999 in Italy.

Pianoro, at last, managed to win the Coppa Italia (Italian Cup) the all-Italian Cricket Max competition that has somehow mysteriously eluded the five time champions.

Surprisingly, the eventual winners did not win the northern preliminary group losing for the first time on their new ground after 21 straight victories to Trentino. This meant second place in the group and a tougher semifinal against Lazio, winners of the southern group. After Trentino had easily disposed of Capannelle in the first semifinal, the Pianoro - Lazio game turned out to be what the relatively large crowd of 200 was hoping: the game of the year.

Lazio, batting first, was twice given good starts by Andrea Corbellari, with the former Boland player getting out when on the verge taking the game away from Pianoro. In the first innings Lazio faltered badly, 34/0 after two overs becoming 74/7 at the close. Pianoro looked to have it all sewn up at 55/0 in the fifth over but Zuppiroli's dismissal meant the lead was only 87 at the half way mark. Once Corbellari had quickly wiped out the deficit and threatened (and then got out) it looked Pianoro's game. But this time Lazio batted all the way through scoring 93/6 off 10 overs and setting Professor Parisi's team 81 against Corbellari and the fading October sunset. Every ball saw a turn in fortunes, as it is to be expected in a 60 ball innings, and whilst Corbellari's pace clearly hampered Pianoro, the champions depth in batting was such that Andrea Parisi, who opens the innings for Italy but in the Cup bats at number 7, saw them home by four wickets with two balls to spare.

Needless to say, the final the following morning proved anticlimatic with Pianoro gaining revenge on Trentino with an easy ten wicket victory.

The following week Lazio gained some revenge over Pianoro by regaining the under 15 title which had been rested from then in 1998. It was a fine performance by Manlio De Amicis's lads who literally outplayed the opposition. Bologna, nearly as surprisingly, gained second place over a lacklustre Pianoro and a very youthful Capannelle whose moment was still to come.

As Italian cricket prepared for its biggest ever tournament, the 16 team under 13 championship played in Catania at the end of October, came the news that everyone was waiting for: Joe Scuderi's successful application to play county cricket. Ironically, Joe originates from Catania and this happy coincidence gave even more interest to the first ever cricket tournament in Sicily.

Summer-like weather blessed the event which was the ultimate demonstration on the growth in depth in Italian cricket. Sadly, however, the finale was marred by an unsporting gesture of such magnitude to force the President of the Federazione to suspend the event prior to the taking place of the final.

After Capannelle, fielding the same team of the under 15 championship, deservedly had reached the final, in the second semi Euratom were contained by Bologna to what looked a lowly 34. This was followed by the controversial incident that saw the Euratom captain run out the Bologna skipper, Najmul Tanna, for backing up too far. Had this been done in a dramatic finale off the penultimate ball of a run chase, unpleasant as it always is, one could have understood the logic. However, it is difficult to believe that an occurrence such as this, with no traditional warning given by the bowler and taking place off the second ball of the innings, was anything else than a premeditated game plan, acceptable, maybe, at the professional level, certainly not in an under 13 tournament.

Thus, the President of the Fedrazione, having waited for the termination of the match (won by Euratom with the scores level for losing fewer wickets) decided to suspend the final and not award the title.

Subsequently, the Consiglio Federale decided, on the analogy of what Somerset had done in the 1979 Benson & Hedges Cup and what the TCCB had decided on that episode, to disqualify Euratom and awrd the under 13 title to Capannelle.

In a moment in which the fight against drugs looks to be on everyone's mouth, one must not forget that playing the game in the correct spirit is just as vital.