Italy captain Alessandro Bonora is banking on the international experience of Michael Di Venuto to be one of the two sides to qualify from the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier 2012 scheduled to be held in UAE from 13-24 March.

A former Australia international, Di Venuto, will feature on the Italy roster during the tournament to be held in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.

"We are hugely excited about Michael joining up with the team. It's a possibility that has been spoken about for a great deal of time.

"The Di Venutos have had a long standing relationship with Italian cricket, with Michael's brother Peter having played for Italy in the recent past, and we're just grateful that Michael's schedule and responsibilities have allowed him to join up with us in Dubai. Just the opportunity to see how a true professional goes about his job will have an immeasurable influence on the guys," said Bonora.

Italy is one of the two sides from Europe, along with Denmark, to make the cut for the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier. The players of the Italy squad have trained individually for the tournament, but Bonora is confident that everything will come together during the tournament.

"We are spread across quite a few countries and continents but fortunately for many of the squad this brings some advantages. As many of the team are in the southern hemisphere we're benefiting from the summer weather and getting a full season of cricket.

"The squad is very similar to the one we have had over past tournaments, and the coaching structure is unchanged, so the guys know what to expect and what is expected of them. The difficulty, as with many of these tournaments, will be for the guys coming out of the northern hemisphere winter to have their skills and games honed by the time we start. Italian cricket does not have the resources of other competing nations to have an extended team camp in the build-up to Dubai, so we will have to adjust very quickly," informed Bonora.

The Italy captain is however very excited about the new faces in the squad. "Middlesex all-rounder Gareth Berg will be joining us and offers some exciting variation with his right-arm swing bowling and strong batting. He's featured strongly in the Middlesex Twenty20 team over the last few seasons and will also bring great experience and lessons for us from the county circuit.

"And the other exciting addition is the off-spinning all-rounder Carl Sandri who has been working towards joining up with Italian cricket for a number of years now and it's great for us that he will be on this tour. Carl has been playing grade cricket in Melbourne for many years and will certainly bolster our ranks tremendously, especially given that spin bowling is likely to be a major factor in Dubai. He is also a phenomenal fielder so expect to see some run outs coming from his arm," revealed Bonora.

The tournament, believes Bonora, will be a great opportunity to show the world the work put in by Cricket Italia to spread the sport in the country.

"Cricket Italia showcases what is great about amateur cricket. We have limited resources and spend a limited time together as a squad, but when we get together for these tournaments we play with passion and strong desire to do well for one another.

"We are not a fire-and-brimstone team, we play with discipline and structure and always look to implement the key skills of the game while minimising errors, if you give us a sniff of a win we love nothing better than a team song to celebrate victory," described Bonora.

Italy is placed in Group B alongside Ireland, Kenya, Scotland, Namibia, Uganda, Oman and USA. Bonora is hoping that the nature of the Twenty20 format and the experience of having played these sides before will stand his side in good stead.

"We know that all these squads thrive on the T20 format and are going to be incredibly tough opposition. We played both Oman and the USA in the Pepsi ICC World Cricket League Division 3 tournament in Hong Kong last year, so know more of less what to expect from them, but I anticipate the T20 format will suit them even more than the 50-over format.

"We have never played Kenya or Namibia, and it has been some time since we last played Ireland and Scotland and know that they have certainly gone through massive development and improvement the last few years.

"We expect the latter four to certainly be the most prepared and professional, but also know that the USA and Oman feature some dynamic and hard-hitting cricketers and will pose a serious challenge. These teams won't give us anything for free on the field and will punish bad bowling and fielding. We expect it to be a tough challenge, and know we will have to lift our standards collectively to meet these teams. We're really excited about the prospect of creating a few surprises in Dubai," concluded Bonora.