3 November 2015


The programme Songs of Praise on BBC Television featured cricket on the first Sunday of November, very much a break from the norm.

David Grant, the presenter, and his film crew visited Rome recently for the return match between the Vatican and the Archbishop of Canterbury's team at Capannelle CC, a ground on the edge of the city racecourse.

St Peter’s XI – as the Vatican likes to be called – gained a resounding 42-run revenge for the defeat at the Kent county ground in September. The Vatican made 147-6 off their 20 overs, a feasible target, but the Church of England, captained by the Rev Steve Gray, chaplain of Bradfield College in Berkshire, were dismissed for 105.

The match followed closely on the visit by a first muslim club team - The Mount from Yorkshire – to play the Vatican. The facilities and outfield at Capannelle remained crude, but the post and rail fence and pine trees added charm, and one would imagine everything will be updated in due course, if Vatican hints are to be believed.

If ever there was a good example of cricket building bridges, the cricketers were joined by an array of eminent Protestants at the Vatican for a Papal Mass celebrated by Pope Francis. The Bishop of Shrewsbury, the Rt Revd Mark Rylands -  a fine cricketer - and the director of the Anglican Centre in Rome, Archbishop David Moxon, were in attendance, along with the catholic Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Vincent Nichols. After the match the UK Ambassador to the Holy See, Nigel Baker, presented the new Saint Augustine Cup to St Peter’s, embossed with the words 'ut unum sint' - Latin for 'that they may be one'.

Cricket has long been linked with religion, as a host of clubs have been formed by church people. The Church Times weekly newspaper has been sponsoring the annual inter-diocesan competition for 60 years, now claiming to be the longest running one-day knockout cricket competition in the world. The only slight hiccup within the general accord was the umpire controversy before the Canterbury match in September when Michael Claughton, of Bethersden CC, was ruled out of consideration because of ancestral links with the church. Amazingly he was deemed “unsuitable” because his great grandfather was an Anglican bishop.

Paul Handley, the editor of Church Times, said that the organisers wanted to be careful that the game would be “completely fairly played” without bias. Claughton, 65, a God-fearing experienced local umpire with an impeccable reputation, described the decision as “bonkers”.

Club cricket has long been a melting pot of no religion and all religions, and the ECB recognise this with guidance in their website, for example with hints for tea ladies about food. Hindus, according to ECB catering advice, “may follow some strict requirements about what they eat”. Many avoid red foods, perhaps onions, garlic and tomatoes. Beef is strictly forbidden in any Hindu diet, and they might avoid “unclean” food such as pork, crab and duck.

For Islam there is lawful (halal) and unlawful (haram) food for muslims. Pork, gelatine, alcohol and drugs are flatly forbidden in Islam. Jewish catering needs might require kosher food (meaning fit and right) and prepared according to jewish law. Kosher foods have to be eaten separately. Meat and milk cannot be cooked, eaten or used together; shellfish and pork are forbidden. With sikhs, smoking is strictly forbidden, and alcohol and drugs are “firmly discouraged”. Many might be vegetarian, as with all religions.

These are only extracts from the ECB guidance, and there are other potential pitfalls for the committee organising events. Where possible, the ECB advise, clubs might avoid planning activities on a Friday and they should give consideration to religious festivals and think about dress code. Otherwise involvement by muslim members might be reduced. Coaching sessions aimed at muslim women should be run by women and this should be clearly stated on any publicity material. Sensitivities towards dress code should be acknowledged.

But whatever the religion, the ECB consistently emphasise on their website that the policy on under-18 players wearing helmets always applies, regardless of head covering that might be required. “Head coverings can be worn underneath if the participants wish,” say the ECB with safety in mind.

David Sheppard is likely to remain the only man to play Test cricket as an ordained minister. A few years after his on-field career finished in 1963, he rose rapidly in the Church of England ranks, appointed Bishop of Woolwich and then Bishop of Liverpool in 1975. In 1998 he was elevated to a life peerage before his death in 2005.

Mohammad Yousuf, the current Pakistan batsman, began his international career as Yousuf Youhana, a Christian, before embracing Islam in 2005-2006 and changing his name. Wayne Parnell, the South Africa left-arm seamer, converted to Islam in 2011, taking the name Wayne Waleed Parnell.

The most Test matches played by a jewish player has been 19 by Adam Bacher for South Africa in the 1990s, though his uncle Ali Bacher would probably have played many more than his 12 if the apartheid boycott had not cut short his career in 1970. There have been a number of jewish county cricketers, but none have so far represented England. Sikhs could claim two in Ravi Bopara and Monty Panesar.

http://www.ecb.co.uk/development/club-cricket/club-support/understanding-religious-faiths-at-your-club,3016,BP.html