I find myself explaining to Christian Vieri that arranging a cricket match with Sir Ian Botham, even though we're in London just a few miles from Lord’s, is likely to be quite challenging. Not only do I lack the necessary influence, but Botham is currently in Australia, nursing injuries after a fishing trip where he fell into crocodile-infested waters.

Vieri, the former striker who once became the world's most expensive footballer when he moved to Internazionale in 1999 for around £30m, isn't just a casual cricket fan; he's passionate about it, having spent most of his childhood in Australia. As a Serie A and Azzurri legend—no Italian has scored more World Cup goals than Vieri’s nine—the 51-year-old often discusses his remarkable football career while working as a pundit in Italy, but rarely mentions the sport that shaped his youth in Sydney’s western suburbs.

Vieri lights up when the West Indies are mentioned, and he’s equally enthusiastic when I tell him Botham also played professional football. “I would go to the Sydney Cricket Ground and watch Australia play the West Indies,” recalls Vieri, speaking in flawless English with a strong Australian accent. “The West Indies were the best cricket team ever. Viv Richards, Joel Garner, Malcolm Marshall, Clive Lloyd—they were phenomenal. Like the 20 best players in the world, they were always West Indians, like Michael Holding, like Gordon Greenwich, Desmond Haynes.”

“Allan Border was my favorite Australian player,” Vieri continues. “He’s the boss of the boss. He gave me his cricket bat. But my No 1s are Viv Richards and Botham. Amazing, man. Maybe he was the best all-round cricketer that ever played the game.” When asked what he loves so much about the West Indies, Vieri replies, “Just like the West Indies, you’ve got to be confident in life if you want to go somewhere. Everyone’s going to put you down when you want to do something. So you’ve just got to go for it 100%.”

Vieri, nicknamed Bobo, has never lacked confidence, whether on the football pitch or off it. But moving from Australia to Italy at 14 was a difficult and uncertain decision. With the support of his family, he quickly made an impact at non-league Santa Lucia, before being spotted by Prato and then the Italian giants Torino. “My grandfather was the only one that believed in me,” says Vieri. “And the first game that I played, when I scored four goals, my grandfather said to my auntie: ‘If we keep him here, he’s going to become one of the best strikers in the world.’”

Vieri’s journey to becoming one of the world’s best was not straightforward, with inconsistent performances in Serie B in the early 90s. He eventually returned to Serie A with Atalanta at 22, and two years later, he won his first and only Scudetto with Juventus, starting in the 1997 Champions League final against Borussia Dortmund.

Despite falling out with his manager, Marcello Lippi, Vieri learned a lot alongside players like Zinedine Zidane and Alessandro Del Piero. “Zidane and I were so different,” he says. “He doesn’t talk much. He’s a silent man. And so when it was the winter I would take him home to my house and eat with my mum’s friends. But I would always play around with him. We always had an amazing relationship.”

Vieri’s career took him to Atlético Madrid, where he became elite, scoring 24 goals in as many La Liga games to win the 1997-98 Pichichi award. He even won a Ferrari 550 Maranello after betting Atlético’s president he would score three goals in a European game against Paok.

At Lazio, Vieri scored an incredible looping header in the 1998-99 Cup Winners’ Cup final against Mallorca at Villa Park. Despite losing the title on the final day, he enjoyed his time under Sven-Göran Eriksson.

Vieri’s world-record move to Inter in 1999 made headlines, and he became a club legend with 123 goals in 190 games. “In Inter, we were an amazing team,” smiles Vieri. “When I arrived I saw Ronaldo and said: ‘I came here to play with you!’ He just started laughing. We had phenomenal players.”

Despite injuries and bad luck, Vieri won only one Coppa Italia during his six years at Inter. Further spells at Milan, Monaco, Atalanta, Sampdoria, and Fiorentina followed, but it is in the blue of Inter and Italy that Vieri will be remembered.

Today, Vieri’s energy is channeled into various ventures, from running a YouTube Channel, Bobo TV, to a beer company, a padel tournament, a fashion line with Paolo Maldini, and restaurants. “I’m the happiest now I have ever been,” beams Bobo. “I have a wife and two daughters. Six and four years old. They’re my two best things in my life.”

We’ll have to try to find time for that game of cricket.

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