Totally Home Grown - Valerio Zuppiroli
What countries have you played cricket in: Germany, Greece, Argentina, Ireland, South Africa, Namibia, Denmark, England, Malaysia, Holland
Full Name:
Valerio Zuppiroli
Known As:
Vale
Date Of Birth:
17 June 1974
Place Of Birth:
Bologna, Italy
What nationality are your parents?:
Italian
Clubs?:
Pianoro
What are your specialities?:
Middle-order batsman, fast-medium bowler, both right-handed, occasional
wicket-keeper
What countries have you played cricket in:
Germany, Greece, Argentina, Ireland, South Africa, Namibia, Denmark,
England, Malaysia, Holland.
How were you introduced to cricket?:
At school by my headmaster Professor Arcido Parisi who is also the President
of Pianoro.
What do you like about cricket the most?:
I like everything about cricket - it's a great game. It has also provided me
with an opportunity to represent my country, and given me the chance to travel.
What can be done to make cricket more appealing to Italians?
Shorter versions of the game will attract people here. Also I think coloured
clothing and night cricket will be popular.
What do you think is the biggest difficulty in getting Italians to play cricket?:
The lifestyle. Everyone is very busy with no time, and most young people
have very demanding jobs or study commitments.
What do your non-cricketing Italian friends think of you playing cricket?
They envy the travelling I have done, and they respect my love of the game,
now that they learnt to understand it a bit.
What do you think is their impression of it, if they have one?
They think it's a bit of a waste of time, it takes too long to play, not
like soccer. They don't have any knowledge of the game, and this is worse
here, because we have very little cricket on television.
Is there anything that is particularly unique about Italian cricket?
Perhaps the language. Also it is played very passionately here, lots of
noise and gestures.
What should be done to spread cricket globally?
Definitely television. That's the decisive factor. Also in other forms of
the media, newspapers, etc, we get little exposure. We also need help from
the bigger cricketing countries and the ICC.
Read in App
Elevate your reading experience on ESPNcricinfo App.