21 Dec 2013

Cricket holy war on as Anglicans accept Vatican challenge

1:49 pm on 21 December 2013

Cricket's set to have a holy war between Catholics and Anglicans - and New Zealanders could feature on at least one side, if not both.

The Church of England has formally taken up the Vatican's challenge to settle scores on the cricket pitch, nearly 500 years after the two Churches split.

Last October, the Vatican formed the St. Peter's Cricket Club, a league composed of teams of priests and seminarians from Catholic colleges and seminaries in Rome.

The best players will form a Vatican team, called the "Vatican XI," and has challenged the Church of England to form its own team of Anglican priests and seminarians to play in London at Lord's, the home of cricket.

Now Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, head of the 80-million strong worldwide Anglican communion, accepted the challenge.

Plans are for the match to be held at Lord's in September after the Anglican side puts together a similar team of amateurs from Lambeth Palace, the residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and nearby theological schools.

The Vatican team will be made up of seminarians and priests in Rome from countries with a cricket tradition: India, Pakistan, Australia, England, Bangladesh - and New Zealand.