The Vatican Cricket Team is an

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cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

club established by the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...

for the

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to foster ties where the sport is popular, such as the

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including

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and the

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, thereby encouraging inter-faith dialogue.

History

Prior to the official establishment of the Vatican Cricket Team, an ''ad hoc'' Vatican XI played its first (international) match against the Netherlands-based Fellowship Of Oddly Odd Countries Cricket Club. The match was played on 13 September 2008 at the Stadio dei Marmi where, using an impromptu pitch, the Vatican side scored 107 runs for the loss of just one wicket; FFOP CC was all out for 58, in a 35-over match. Its first cricket match was in May 2008, a friendly game 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

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to the

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, 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", therefore not

Vatican City Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (; ), is a Landlocked country, landlocked sovereign state and city-state; it is enclaved within Rome, the capital city of Italy and Bishop of Rome, seat of the Catholic Church. It became inde ...

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

and some players from

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and

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

also being selected. The team is sponsored by the dicastery for Culture and Education, and is supported by

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s of the Papal Orders of Knighthood.

Tour of Portugal 2017

In 2017, the Vatican team visited a cricket stadium in

Miranda do Corvo Miranda do Corvo (), officially the Town of Miranda do Corvo (), is a town and a Concelho, municipality in the Portugal, Portuguese Coimbra District, district of Coimbra, with an area of and 2011 population of 13,098 inhabitants. History The fi ...

for the third "Light of Faith Tour", being greeted with a Fire Brigade Salute.

Tour of England 2018

The Vatican Cricket Team undertook its fourth "Light of Faith Tour" in

over the summer of 2018, playing the first fixture on tour against a specially-selected Stonyhurst College Gentlemen's XI from alumni of the famous

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independent school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

. Founded in 1593, Stonyhurst College is a co-educational Catholic boarding and day school, occupying a magnificent Grade I-listed building in Lancashire and the oldest Jesuit school in the world. The tour commenced at Stonyhurst on 4 July 2018 in acknowledgement of the school's long history of combining faith, academics and sporting excellence. The Vatican XI, comprising priests, deacons and seminarians studying and working in

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and at the Vatican, then played at

Lord's Lord's Cricket Ground, commonly known as Lord's, is a cricket List of Test cricket grounds, venue in St John's Wood, Westminster. Named after its founder, Thomas Lord, it is owned by Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) and is the home of Middlesex C ...

versus an Anglican team, with other matches against a

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XI as well as the Royal Household Cricket Club at Windsor. The team previously toured England in September 2014, playing the

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and the Royal Household of the

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Tour of England 2024

In 2024, the Pope's XI (as the Vatican Cricket Team is colloquially known) again played the King's XI and St. Mary's University at Home Park, near

Windsor Castle Windsor Castle is a List of British royal residences, royal residence at Windsor, Berkshire, Windsor in the English county of Berkshire, about west of central London. It is strongly associated with the Kingdom of England, English and succee ...

, Westminster Abbey and Arundel Castle. All the 2024 squad, consisting of priests and students who seek priesthood, are Keralites from India.

Proposed tours

During a visit to

, representatives of the Vatican Cricket Team met with Dr Ishrat-ul-Ibad Khan who proposed a series of matches against his own " Governor of Sindh XI" consisting of Islamic theology students.www.governor.sindh.gov.pk
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References