Why did Joe Burns switch to playing for Italy and help them qualify for the T20 World Cup 2026?

Why did Joe Burns switch to play for Italy from Australia? 

Joe Burns is a 35-year-old cricketer who was born on 6 September 1989 in Herston, Queensland, Australia.

After impressing in the domestic circuit, Burns made his Australia debut on 26 December 2014 in the Test match vs India, in which MS Dhoni announced his retirement. 

However, it was an inconsistent stint, and exactly 6 years after making his debut, he played his last Test match for Australia on 26 December 2020.

The career took a drastic turn as he had to work hard in the domestic circuit. However, there was almost no 2nd chance. And then he suffered a major blow when his brother Dominic Burns passed away in 2024. After that, Burns decided to switch to play for the Italian cricket team.

Joe Burns was eligible to represent the Italian team through his Italian heritage from his maternal grandparents from Calabria. He also wears the number 85 jersey to honour his brother, who had the same number while playing for the Northern Federals in club cricket, which is also his birth year.

After switching to the Italian team, Burns made his debut for the Azzurri on June 8 against Luxembourg during the Italian team’s T20 World Cup 2026 European qualification process.

He made an instant mark for the Italian team as he scored a century vs Romania during a qualifying match. He scored 108 runs unbeaten off 55 balls.

He has brought a revolution to the Italian cricket team and European Cricket. Ireland, Scotland, the Netherlands, and England were the best European cricket teams, and Italy's qualification to the T20 World Cup 2026 is a massive example of how the other European countries are now slowly starting to take an interest in the game.

Alongside Joe Burns, the Manenti brothers, Harry and Ben Manenti, are the other Australia-born cricketers who represent Italy and are two of the very important members of the team.

Joe Burns stats for Australia

Joe Burns’ international career was promising but not long-lasting. He made his Australian debut in 2014 during a series against India. He went on to make his ODI debut a year later in August 2015 and played his last ODI match in September 2015.

Meanwhile, he wasn't the first choice for the Australian team in Test cricket. He had a slow start to his Test career and was eventually dropped from the team in 2016.

However, he made a return to the team in 2018 after Steve Smith, David Warner, and Cameron Bancroft were banned due to the ball tampering scandal. He remained mostly in and out, and on 26 December 2020, he played his last Test match for Australia against India and was never called up again.

During his career for Australia, he played 6 ODIs in which he scored 146 runs. Meanwhile, he featured in 23 Test matches for Australia and scored 1442 runs at an average of 37.0.