18 January 2024, 02:00 AM IST
The team captain hails from Changanassery
Kannur: Five Malayalam players have made it to St. Peter’s Cricket Club, the official cricket team of the Vatican. The team captain is also a Malayali, a native of Changanassery, Fr. Jose Etulli.
Father, who was the captain of the Vatican cricket team from 2013 to 2016, later came home. He returned to Rome last year and took up the captaincy again.
Brother Ajay Poovanpuzha, a priest student from Kannur, Jace Jamie from Pala and Ebin Jose from Idukki are new arrivals in the Vatican team. Kottayam native Fr. Prince is already in the team.
The first match this time is in England with King Charles XI. The new arrivals to the team received the blessing of Pope Francis before the match. He also received a cricket bat signed by the Pope. Vatican media has released the images.
The Vatican Cricket Club was officially registered last year in 2018. The team members are priests, priest students and laymen from different countries like Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Italy, India etc.
Fast bowler Ajay came to Rome last year to study theology. He was in the school cricket team. Ajay is the son of James Thomas-Mercy George couple of Kannur Alakote Thertali.
The Pope’s own team
The official cricket club was created by the Vatican in 2023 with the aim of strengthening ties with nations and maintaining brotherhood through cricket. There are 45 members. There are more than 20 Malayalis in this. From this 12 people were selected for international competitions.
2024-01-17 20:30:00
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