Bolt of Italy blue delivers Europe T20WC Qualifier intrigue

By Daniel Beswick

The fight for two ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 qualification spots will be fierce in the Dutch city of Voorburg, with Jersey, Guernsey and a bolstered Italian team certain to push Scotland and the hosts in a fascinating European Regional Final.

Every match of the European Regional Final is live and free on ICC.tv (in select regions)

Led by recently-appointed captain Joe Burns, the upcoming tournament is the Azzurri's best chance of breaking new ground and claiming a maiden T20 World Cup ticket, coming in with arguably their best ever squad to challenge their more-credentialed opponents.

While lamenting the unavailable Wayne Madsen, the side do enjoy the services of Emilio Gay and Grant Stewart, on top of Burns and the Manenti brothers of Ben and Harry.

Italy fell a win short of qualification in the equivalent qualifier in 2023, though responded in emphatic fashion to begin their qualification journey to T20 World Cup 2026, going largely unchallenged in an undefeated Sub-Regional campaign last year to secure their spot for the upcoming tournament.

Ireland legend Kevin O'Brien, part of Italy's coaching staff, says the side have enjoyed a strong preparation coming in.

"I think we've identified where we went wrong last time in Scotland (in the last cycle). We've looked at trying to change that, over the past few months or so," the Assistant coach said.

"We're well set after the two warm-up games this week, and we had a nice camp in Horsham (Sussex) where we played three games.

"All in all, I think it's coming together, (and) the confidence is high in the group and we've got some very experienced players in the team, experience from all over the world as well.

"Fingers crossed we can we can play some smart cricket over the next six or seven days and look to qualify for the World Cup, which would be absolutely huge for Italian cricket and would really push the federation forward in terms of where it needs to be to continue to make the strides off the pitch, (and) to match the strides we've made on the pitch over the last two or three years."

Jersey and Guernsey also come into the Regional Final, having also emerged victorious from Sub-Regional action.

Led by Oli Nightingale, Guernsey bounced back from a shock defeat to Finland to eventually reach their Sub-Regional final, brushing aside a strong Danish side on the final day to book their Regional Final tickets in August last year. They will lean on the bowling work of Charlie Forshaw and the experience of Matthew Stokes with the bat.

Jersey, who have bragging rights over their Channel Islander neighbours after their recent Inter-Insular series will again be led by canny all-rounder Chuggy Perchard, though have a selection complication with standout Asa Tribe likely fitting his output around Glamorgan duties.

Despite the push of the other three challengers, Scotland and The Netherlands remain favourites for the two spots, and even with the Dutch forced into a squad shuffle.

Missing the likes of Logan van Beek and Colin Ackermann, Vikramjit Singh has also been left out of the Dutch squad, though there has been a recall for fast bowler Hidde Overdijk, having last appeared for the men in an official international five years ago.

The Dutch should thrive in home conditions, coming off a solid recent tri-series in Scotland, testing their bottle in a heart-stopping triple Super Over win against Nepal in a recent tri-series in Scotland.

The Scots come in as the highest-ranked team at the tournament (13th), and come in with the likes of George Munsey, Brandon McMullen and Michael Leask in imposing batting form.

Fellow European sides England and Ireland were automatic qualifiers for next year's T20 World Cup after the 2024 edition.