An Italian passport through his mother, which enabled him to qualify and play in this country in the first instance, allows him to represent that country in the T20 World Cup Europe qualifier, which will be held in Edinburgh between the above dates.

Two teams will qualify and the hosts, Scotland, together with Ireland, will be the favourites to do so. Yet the recruitment of Madsen, as well as Kent’s Grant Stewart and Australians Spencer Johnson and Ben Manenti, will make the Italians competitive, under captain/coach Gareth Berg.

Michael di Venuto previously played for them and it should make for an entertaining tournament. It is played on a round robin basis, with Austria, Denmark, Germany and Jersey also involved.

It is belated international recognition for Wayne, who could likely have done a fine job for England at different points over the last decade, especially on overseas tours, where his ability against spin might have seen him do better than others who got the nod.

Assuming that it is confirmed by the club,  he will miss home matches against Durham and Glamorgan, but only the churlish would deny him the opportunity to play some cricket at international level.

He has graced the county game for a long time now and most county supporters will likely have one eye on Edinburgh for the duration of the tournament. 

Mark Watt will also be involved, of course, representing Scotland.