The Vatican Cricket Team is an amateur

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

team established by the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

to help establish ties between the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and countries and regions where the sport is popular including

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and the Caribbean and to encourage inter-faith dialogue.

History

Prior to the official establishment of the Vatican Cricket Team, an ad hoc Vatican team played its first (international) match against the Dutch Fellowing Of Oddly Odd Countries Cricket Club. The match-date was 13 September 2008 and the venue being the Stadio dei Marmi. Using an impromptu pitch the Vatican team scored 107 runs for just one wicket. FFOP C.C. was all out for 58, in a 35 over match. The first cricket match played by the Vatican Cricket Team was in May 2008, a friendly match against Roma Capannelle Cricket Club, with the Serie A club winning the match. In 2013, the "St Peter's Cricket Club", initially the idea of Australia's ambassador to the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

, John McCarthy, announced its formation. The club was tasked with recruiting players from among the "300 seminarians and priests housed at Catholic colleges and seminaries around Rome", not therefore citizens of

Vatican City Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—' * german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ') * pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—' * pt, Cidade do Vati ...

. The most talented players were to be invited to join the Vatican Cricket Team, or "the Vatican XI". The Club plays its home matches at the Roma Capannelle Cricket Ground, home of Roma Capannelle CC, the only international cricket ground in Rome. The team itself was established in June 2014, with the initial player list consisting of "priests, deacons and seminarians", primarily recruited from

. A small number of players from

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, Sri Lanka and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

were also included. The team is sponsored by the

Pontifical Council for Culture The Pontifical Council for Culture ( la, Pontificium Consilium de Cultura) was a dicastery of the Roman Curia charged with fostering the relationship of the Catholic Church with different cultures. It was erected by Pope John Paul II on 20 May ...

Tour of England

The Vatican Cricket Team will undertake their Fourth "Light of Faith Tour" in

over the summer of 2018. The team will play the first fixture of the tour against a specially-formed Stonyhurst College Gentlemen's XI from the famous

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

independent school. Founded in 1593, Stonyhurst College is an independent co-educational Catholic boarding and day school, occupying a magnificent Grade I listed building in Lancashire. Founded in 1593, it is the oldest Jesuit School in the world. The tour commencement at Stonyhurst acknowledges the school's long history of combining faith, academics and sporting excellence. The team, made up of priests, deacons and seminarians studying and working in Rome and at the Vatican, will also play their first match at Lord's. Its opponents at Lord's will be an interfaith team, while other matches will include one against a

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the ...

XI, and against the British Royal Household Cricket Club at Windsor. The tour begins at Stonyhurst on 4 July 2018. The team last toured England in September 2014, playing a team representing the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

and another representing the household of the British Royal Family. During a visit to Pakistan, representatives of the team met with Ishrat-ul-Ibad Khan who proposed a series of matches against his own " Governor of Sindh's XI" consisting of Islamic theology students.

Tour of Portugal

In 2017, the team visited a cricket stadium in

Miranda do Corvo Miranda do Corvo () is a town and a municipality in the Portuguese district of Coimbra, with an area of and 2011 population of 13,098 inhabitants. History The first reference to the region of Miranda do Corvo arrived at the end of the 10th cen ...

for the 3rd official 'Light of Faith Tour', where the team was greeted at the stadium gates with a Fire Brigade Salute.

References

{{Vatican City topics Sport in Vatican City National cricket teams Cricket clubs established in 2008

History

Tour of England

Tour of Portugal

See also

References