{"id":397842,"date":"2024-05-28T03:55:52","date_gmt":"2024-05-28T03:55:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=397842"},"modified":"2024-05-28T06:06:28","modified_gmt":"2024-05-28T06:06:28","slug":"heartbreaking-reason-ex-test-stars-switching-allegiances","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=397842","title":{"rendered":"Heartbreaking reason ex-Test star's switching allegiances"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Australian Test<\/a> opener Joe Burns<\/a> has revealed he will try to represent Italy at the 2026 Twenty20<\/a> World Cup.<\/p>\n

And his surprise change of allegiance is in tribute to his brother, who died in February.<\/p>\n

The 34-year-old publicly revealed his brother's death in an emotional Instagram post on Tuesday.\ufeff<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Emotional Nadal crashes out of Roland-Garros<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Gould's theory behind star's shock Blues snub<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'One of a kind': Basketball icon dead after cancer battle<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Burns published a post alongside a photo of an Italian playing shirt with the number 85 printed on the back.<\/p>\n

"This isn't just a number and this isn't just a jersey. This is for the people who I know will be looking down proudly from above," he wrote.<\/p>\n

\"Joe<\/p>\n

"In February of this year my brother sadly passed away… 85 was his number in the last team he played (and his birth year) for the mighty Northern Federals in sub-districts.<\/p>\n

"The days, weeks and months since my brother's death have been the toughest I could ever imagine. I'm not too proud to admit that it's been a daily battle that I often lose.<\/p>\n

"While a part of my soul feels like it will always be missing, I know this shirt will carry on his spirit and give me strength.<\/p>\n

"It's the hours playing as kids and connection with him that taught me to love this game.<\/p>\n

"I often reflect on the bravery and commitment it must have taken my grandparents when they left Italy to start a new life in Australia. They found a way to make it work through adversity and this has always given me solace through life's lessons.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"I'm so proud to represent Italy on our path to the 2026 World Cup.<\/p>\n

"The fields of Rome may be a long way from the Gabba, MCG or our front yard growing up, but I feel like I'm coming home."<\/p>\n

Burns played 23 Test matches for Australia, as well as six one-day internationals, but hasn't represented the country since his last Test in December 2020.<\/p>\n

He continues to play for Queensland and the Brisbane Heat.\ufeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former Australian Test opener Joe Burns has revealed he will try to represent Italy at the 2026 Twenty20 World Cup. And his surprise change of […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":397844,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397842"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=397842"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397842\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":397847,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397842\/revisions\/397847"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/397844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=397842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=397842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=397842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}