Vatican's Cricket Team Will Play in England this Summer

While the sporting world of the former British Empire will be focused on the historic three centuries' old Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados for the Twenty20 Cricket World Cup Final, another national team close to every Catholic's heart will be batting and bowling in the British Isles.

The Vatican's very own national cricket team called St. Peter's Cricket Club have announced a seven day tour of England this summer from 28 June to 5 July. Athletica Vaticana are the ones who broke the story last week as they look forward to a busy summer as the national multisport federation of the Vatican City State.

This cricket tour will be part of a Light of Faith Tour, where St. Peter's Cricket Club will combine their Faith and sport to grow closer to both Catholic and non-Catholic communities in England.

Former Australian Ambassador to the Holy See, John Anthony McCarthy (member of the Order of Pope Pius IX and Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great, the King's Council, and an Order of Malta member), was key in establishing this club when he suggested so to the Vatican authorities. The Vatican at first was skeptical because many of the high-up officials were not quite sure what cricket was or how popular the adventure could be. But, after much consideration, the former Ambassador McCarthy was able to get the club started earning eventual national team status, after the Pontifical Council for Culture (now Dicastry of Culture and Education) agreed to sponsor the team, believing this would help the Church grow its numbers and relationships in the nations that cherish cricket most such as South Asia, the Caribbean, Australasia, Southern Africa, and the British Isles.

Therefore, St. Peter's Cricket Club often tours in conjunction with papal and apostolic nuncio (ambassador) trips to play local teams. In multiple tours, the club played a side representing the Anglican Communion in London, even meeting the late Queen Elizabeth II. Other times, the club has played representative sides of Muslims, and other religious and cultural groups.

While the Vatican and their opposition may be focused on these representative matches in late June and early July, the rest of the cricketing world will be focused on the twenty nations at this year's Twenty20 Cricket World Cup. The USA and West Indies are hosting the tournament together marking the first time the USA will feature in or host a senior-level cricket world cup, while the West Indies national team have won this format twice before and have previously hosted.

The tournament begins tomorrow in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Grand Prairie, at a one-year old cricket stadium built last year for the USA's new Major League Cricket that will return this summer after the World Cup. The USA will be playing fierce rivals Canada. The two North American nations are now more focused on their baseball with stars like Angels' Mike Trout and Dodgers' Freddy Freeman having faced off last year in baseball's world championship, the World Baseball Classic, in a group stage game in Phoenix, Arizona. However, the two nations have a very long cricketing past and used to be elite nations in the sport, even playing in the first official international match against each other in 1844. Some famous cricketers from North America include America's first president, George Washington, amongst many others.

Additionally, the New York City and Miami metropolitan regions will be hosting group stage matches, along with the Caribbean islands of Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago, and the South American nation of Guyana.

Group A will feature India, Pakistan, Ireland, the USA, and Canada all playing in the US. Group B will play host to England and Wales (usually just listed as England), Australia, Namibia, Scotland, and Oman all playing in the Caribbean. Group C includes the West Indies, New Zealand, Afghanistan, Papua New Guinea, and Uganda all playing in South America and the Caribbean. Group D will see South Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the Netherlands, and Nepal playing across both the US and the Caribbean. Further rounds will all be in the Caribbean and South America too. You can see the full schedule with this link and where you can watch the games with this other link. If you are worried that this is the three day version, do not as Twenty20 cricket usually lasts about as long as a baseball game, with very high scoring.

The Vatican City national team is a long way from reaching the level of these professional juggernauts but the seminarians and other Church officials that make up this side come from many of the nations at this year's tournament. So, they will not mind as much if the gold and white flag of their national team is not hoisted in the air in World Cup celebrations as long as their cherished home nation is celebrating.

Nevertheless, the team is focused on winning and in their most recent match on 4 May, the Vatican defeated the local Roman side, Cappanelle Cricket Club, 62/8 (20) to 63/3 (11.1). This one run victory may seem like a close match, but in reality, what this scoreline reads is that the Vatican had 59 more balls to swing at and already beat Cappanelle, so the score was very good.

In the future, we may see the Vatican reach a high enough level to compete in international matches such as qualifiers. The Vatican Sports Federation is keen on establishing at least five national teams in international sport federations part of the Olympics. With this accomplishment, the Vatican would then be able to have an Olympic Committee and be eligible for the Olympic Games. But, the Vatican is also interested in establishing themselves in non-Olympic sports too.

Already, the Vatican has joined multiple international federations part of the Olympics such as in track and field, cycling, and taekwondo, and athletes are taking part in multiple events this summer. Cricket, like soccer, basketball, and a few other sports are examples of national teams not yet recognized by the international federations. However, with more games and better results, their invitation and approval gets closer and with cricket in the 2028 Olympics, a good St. Peter's side will help the Vatican reach its ultimate goal.