Forza Azzurri: Manenti brothers savour Italy's historic moment

There are batters, bowlers and allrounders, but Ben Manenti can break the Italian cricket team down into three other categories; fluent speakers, competent speakers and those who can pick up bits and pieces.

He falls in the latter for both as someone who can piece phrases of the Italian language together and "sort of understand it", but once his more proficient teammates get going, he admits he's "gone".

"Once Italians start talking, they start flying and that's where they lose me," Manenti told cricket.com.au from Kolkata ahead of their third T20 World Cup match against England on Monday.

"I get done for pace and a lot of the boys, they just keep going and I'm left for dead.

"But we're pretty bilingual team – one message will get sent … to our wicketkeeper (Gian-Piero Meade) and he will pass it on in Italian so it's clear for everyone, so that aspect of it is pretty cool.

"We've had to nut that out and get it right because there's been a bit of mixed messaging in the past where it sort of gets lost in translation, but we're doing pretty well with it."

Whatever happens from here on, the Manenti name will always be synonymous with Italian cricket.

After skipper Wayne Madsen dislocated his shoulder in their opening loss to Scotland, Manenti's brother and Adelaide Striker, Harry, stood in for the second, captaining the country to their first ever win at a cricket World Cup in any format.

Ben returned a very tidy 2-9 from four overs after taking the new ball against Nepal, before Sydney brothers Justin and Anthony Mosca led them to a thumping 10-wicket win with an unbroken opening stand of 124.

Manenti is hoping the legacy to this Italian side – which hails from diverse backgrounds with a strong Australian flavour but who have been playing together for several years – will last long beyond the team's maiden World Cup appearance.

"Growing up in Australia, all you want to do is play for Australia," he said.

"That opportunity hasn't come (for me); it may never come, but to be able to represent Italy is obviously very special to my brother and I and to our family as well.

"That opportunity, while it's probably come through a different route, has been really special and to experience a World Cup, it's something I may never get to do again.

"So the opportunity to play for Italy and to now do it in a World Cup and hopefully set up cricket in Italy for a long time, is something that I'm very grateful for."

His younger brother added after their win over Nepal that he'd seen the passion for the game grow across several visits to Italy since his international debut in 2022.

"I've had the privilege of meeting a lot of people who are passionate about the game in Italy," said Harry Manenti. "I'm hoping we've managed to, not just (by beating Nepal), but in the last few weeks, in the last few years, build a reputation in Italy that we are a federation who are working hard.

"We've brought in some really high-class coaching that was crucial to working with the players. We've had players all along and we've got a good group of local players in Italy.

"We've seen Crishan (Kalugamage, a Sri Lankan-born leg-spinner who took 3-18 in their Nepal triumph), who's lived in Italy for a long, long time and moved there when he was about 10.

"Now, he's on the world stage."

The Manentis qualify to play for the Azzurri through their Italian grandparents. Their grandmother was born in Italy before moving to Australia, where she met their grandfather, who grew up in North Queensland after his parents had emigrated Down Under.

It meant their dad John, a former front rower and renowned rugby coach, had Italian citizenship, which also allow his sons to obtain theirs.

"Dad went over and played rugby for a few years in Italy (in his early 20s) and kept his citizenship and passport," explained Ben Manenti. "That allowed me to get mine, which was to basically go over and play club cricket in England.

"After I started playing in the Big Bash, Italy reached out and asked if I was interested. I told Harry and he started playing before me and that's how it all started."

It kicked off somewhat of a recruiting drive for the Italian team, with Manenti, who grew up in inner Sydney before moving to Tasmania and then South Australia when he earned a state contract in 2022, also passing the message on to the Mosca brothers.

The Manentis and Moscas, who are also eligible through their Italian grandparents, had played a decade of Premier Cricket together, with a 17-year-old Ben playing his first season of first-grade alongside Anthony at Sydney Cricket Club.

Justin, a physical education teacher, and Anthony, a carpenter who teaches woodwork at a juvenile detention centre, hit 60 not out and 62no respectively, sharing a passionate embrace in the middle of Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium last Thursday after leading Italy to their maiden World Cup win.

"Harry and I have played about 10 years of grade cricket with them," Manenti said. "When I made my first-grade debut when I was 17 in Sydney, 'AJ' (Anthony) was in that team.

"I played from aged 17 to 26, when I moved to Tassie, with 'AJ' and Justin, so we've played a lot of cricket together.

"'AJ' and Justin were both eligible for a passport as well so the three of them (including his brother Harry) went and played two tournaments before me. They played one in Finland and one in Uganda before I joined in Scotland three years ago (for the European regional qualifiers for the 2024 T20 World Cup).

"It's been pretty cool; Harry and I are in Adelaide now and they're both in Sydney playing out at Campbelltown.

"It's nice to be able to play for Italy and play some cricket together … and it was great to see those boys go out and do well."

Outside of both Manentis, their skipper Madsen, West Australian-born turned Kent fast bowler Grant Stewart, and former South African allrounder JJ Smuts, one of the eye-openers for the Italian team during the World Cup has been playing in front of big crowds in stadiums.

"I think it was 10 of our guys that hadn't played in stadiums before, so even the practice games in Chennai was a big deal them just to get used to the lights and seeing the ball," said Ben Manenti.

"While there's been massive growth on the field, there's been a lot of little things that guys have never experienced before too.

"That's the beauty of a World Cup.

"And I guess for us, it's trying not to get overawed by it and actually enjoy it; you don't know when you're going to be back here.

"The Nepalese crowd was awesome the other day – there was (more than 20,000 there) and I think we had about 150 Italians in there too.

"It was awesome to experience that side of it and our messaging has just been to actually enjoy it and embrace it for what it is and not feel the pressure of it."

The Manenti family arrived in Kolkata on Saturday to watch their sons in their final two group games against heavyweights England (Monday) and West Indies (Thursday), with Italy seeking an upset win to keep their campaign alive.

"There's always that element of belief otherwise it's going to be a long 40 overs," said Ben Manenti.

"We've seen Nepal gave England a run in their first game and Scotland gave them a nudge in the second. We know England is world-class, we know West Indies are world-class, but all we can control is what we do and hopefully we can go out there and put on a show to take two points.

"If we don't, we want to show the world that we're a really competitive team and that we're hopefully going to be around for a long time."

All matches will be broadcast on Amazon's Prime Video