‘Viv Richards was my favourite cricketer, together with Ian Botham. During the coronavirus period I thought about trying to train with the Italian national team’ Christian Vieri on his love for cricket

There’s an alternative timeline out there where Christian Vieri was not one of the most devastating strikers of his era and didn’t spend the best part of two decades attempting to play for every single club in Serie A.

Instead, he’s an Australian test cricketer, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Steve Waugh, Adam Gilchrist and the late, great Shane Warne.

That’s because the Italian-born Vieri was raised in Australia, where he developed a love for both cricket and football, before he returned to Italy as a 15-year-old in 1988 and took the first steps towards a career as a professional footballer.

Vieri opens up on his love for cricket

Vieri enjoyed a brilliant career as a footballer, becoming the world’s most expensive player in 1999 and earning 49 Italy caps, during which time he netted nine World Cup goals in the 1998 and 2002 tournaments. But that love for cricket, which he developed from an early age, remains.

“I used to go with friends to the Sydney Cricket Ground to watch Test matches between Australia and the West Indies,” he tells FourFourTwo. “I know all of the West Indies players like Clive Lloyd, Desmond Haynes, Gordon Greenidge, Malcolm Marshall, Joel Garner and Michael Holding. Viv Richards was my favourite, together with Ian Botham from England.

“In the Australian team, I liked Allan Border. I’m still very passionate about cricket. During the coronavirus period I thought about trying to train with the Italian national team, who have their centre outside Milan, but I’m never here in the summer so it didn’t materialise.”

As a child, Vieri played both cricket and football and has previously spoken about having to choose which route to pursue.

“I was also in love with tennis – I was crazy about three sports and thought I could pursue a professional career in all of them,” he admits. “In the end, I chose football because I loved it just a little bit more.

“At some point, I said, “I’m going to Italy to play football.” After an under-15 tournament where I scored the winner in the final, I packed my bags and left for Italy.

“My father never put any pressure on me. He said that if I didn’t want to play football, it was no problem. When I wanted to go to Italy, he said, “Go and stay with your grandfather for a couple of months – you’re probably going to come back.”

“He didn’t think I’d become a player. But I never came back.”