Anthony Mosca and Justin Mosca with Paola Maldini at Dubai Airport.
The Moscas have lived in Sydney for three generations now. It is where the brothers – Anthony and Justin – picked up the cricket bat and ball in the dream of wearing the “Baggy Green” one day.
The 31-year old Justin, a physical education teacher, is giving the Vietnamese community wings to fly. Anthony, 34, a carpenter who works at a juvenile centre, is reshaping broken lives. In the middle of all this, they have already made history by being part of the Italy team making its maiden appearance at a T20 World Cup. But all it takes for the Moscas to reveal their true colours is the mention of the ‘Azzurri’.
“We both always wanted to be like Paolo Maldini or Roberto Baggio,” Anthony concedes. So much so that as Italy had a shot at qualifying for the T20 World Cup, the first thing that Justin did was grow his hair like Maldini’s long, flowing, feathered brown locks. “When I played football, I used to love sliding tackles because Maldini was the best at it. So when there was a chance of going to the World Cup, I thought I would grow my hair like Maldini, (Francesco) Totti and Gennaro Gattuso. You had to have it,” Justin says.
If one thought that the frame of the two brothers walking out to bat together at the iconic Eden Gardens could make for a perfect picture in the living room, the two have already locked one.
During their trip from Dubai to Chennai for the warm-up fixtures, the Moscas chanced upon Maldini at the airport.
Justin Mosca (left) with Anthony Mosca
“We were sitting at the airport and Maldini just walked through. We were so awestruck that we spoke to him in English while wearing the Italian jersey. We were just frozen that even when he noticed our kit and asked about it, we didn’t speak much. This photo has to go up there. Now, we have to tick off Baggio,” Anthony says.
In the Mosca household, it would remain a treasure hunt. Ever since their grandfather moved to Sydney during World War II, the only close ties they had with any sport was watching the Azzurri at the World Cup.
“When they came to Australia, it was all about working, so they told their kids – our parents and their generation – just work. So dad loved sport, loved cricket, but never really played it too seriously. But our parents adapted to Australian culture. If they hadn’t worked hard, we wouldn’t be in this position.” Justin says.
Embracing Australian culture meant cricket naturally took over in the summer. When the Mosca family assembled for the Christmas vacation, the days were spent playing cricket. What started as a favourite pastime, became a bit more serious when they were enrolled at the Sydney Cricket Club where they played alongside the Manenti brothers (Harry and Ben) before Ben showed them the path to play for Italy.
While playing top-level cricket remained a long shot, Justin and Anthony had been building their careers elsewhere.
Justin, inspired by his teachers, worked at a school with a large number of Vietnamese students.
“I never really had aspirations to play professional cricket in Australia. I studied for a teaching degree and was at university, so it was hard to pursue cricket. I love cricket for the competitive side of it and the team aspect, which is why I love playing with these boys so much,” he says. “They actually didn’t know much about cricket. They’re happy for me, the kids love it. They don’t understand it, but they’ve seen me on TV once or twice, and think I’m famous. I’ve got to try and tell them I wouldn’t be working if I was.”
For Anthony, life has taken many turns. Having been a carpenter and a builder for 12 years, the heavy toll it took on his body meant he had to look at alternate career options which also allowed him to focus on cricket.
“I’m doing woodwork teaching at a juvenile jail.” It is the place where Anthony has been able to change young lives. “I feel a little bit for them, a lot of them come from probably a broken home. They’ve just made some probably poor decisions in their life, probably from not having parents that were guiding them correctly, so to speak, but that’s my aim. I enjoy trying to get them on the right path to go back into the community. That’s the best enjoyment. They’ve all got good hearts, so that’s the best part, and when they get released, they’re ready to face the real world,” he adds.
From the streets of a Sydney suburb, they will now walk out at the Eden Gardens, including for the match against England on February 16. It’s the fixture they are most looking forward to.
“It’s two-fold, Italy vs England and part of Australia vs England as well,” Justin says. “You need to get yourself in there and compete and you never know what will happen. At the end of the day, it’s a game of sport, upsets happen all the time. So as long as we execute our skills and stay calm under pressure, I’m pretty confident that we can find a way to get the job done. One of our coaches is Kevin O’Brien. He played at a World Cup for Ireland and they beat England. You look at those stories, he’s in the history books. You see that and go, ‘it can happen,’” he says.
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