Eleven emissaries from the Vatican walk into Windsor Castle. No, it is not an audacious bid to overturn the English Reformation, a delayed Jacobite coup or well-meaning but dreary ecumenical conference. It’s the opposition batting order.
While cricket is now a global game, with Test sides from Afghanistan and Ireland and a receptive audience even in the United States, the Holy See is not generally regarded as one of its hotspots. But that is to underestimate the global reach of the Roman Catholic Church which can, when the occasion requires, pray in aid of the formidable talents of a multinational host of cricketing clerics.
Last week, the Vatican XI — yes, you heard it right — toured England, taking in matches on the Wormsley estate and the ground at Arundel Castle before facing the King’s XI at Windsor. The visitors from Rome, composed largely of Catholics from the Indian subcontinent, is a testament to the faith’s diversity. Before the game, Pope Francis spoke of his hope that the match would “build bridges of fraternal solidarity” between Rome and Canterbury. For His Majesty, meanwhile, it was a grudge match: the Catholics were the reigning champions. He was said to have “keenly” awaited a positive result — and he was not disappointed.
We trust that good relations between Catholic and Anglican will survive the triumph of the royal side, not least because the tourists were welcomed into several royal chapels during their week-long visit. His Majesty should count himself lucky that it was not the Pope’s footballers, a notoriously dirty side, invading his turf. Fortunately, their cricketing counterparts resisted the temptation to indulge in unholy acts like bodyline or sledging. Indeed, they exhibited rather more grace than the immortal 19th century holder of that name. It was WG, legend has it, who once replaced the bails after being bowled out — and simply carried on.
