Vatican City might be thousand kilometres from the UK, where the ICC World Cup is on, but for Deacon Jose Ettolil Mathew, who is currently pursuing theology studies at the headquarters of the Roman Catholic church, the tournament has come to occupy much of his time these days. As he watches the game on television, he is reliving memories of playing on these very grounds — Lords, Edgbaston, Headingly and Kent to name a few — since he started playing professionally in 2015.

Deacon Mathew is an elite member of the Vatican (St Peter's) Cricket Team, also known as Vatican XI, which was founded in 2013 by Sir John McCarthy, the then Australian Ambassador to the Holy See and Fr Eamonn O' Higgins LC. The team has played nearly 50 matches till date, competing with the Royal Household, Windsor, the Archbishop of Canterbury XI, the Houses of Parliament, England and Mount Cricket Club.