Stage is set in Rome for Commonwealth Cricket Cup

 ROME  - In todays world, full of hate, conflict and discrimination, sometimes we find it hard to seek out and reach peace, or at least something that allows us to experience it for a brief period. Sport, however, is an instrument that allows us to do just that. Cricket in particular teaches and encourages values that todays society sometimes forgets about altogether.

 Here in Rome, on Saturday the sport of cricket will provide the perfect example of the role it can play in creating a better world for all of us, in an exhibition of the values it helps to teach and holds so dear: The Commonwealth Cricket Cup.

 Cricket in Italy is still quite a young sport professionally, although the Italian Cricket Federation has existed for 45 years, however it is growing rapidly in popularity. The Italian mens team have just qualified for the T20 World Cup for the first time in their history, a huge breakthrough for the sport here in Italy. Thanks to young people and schools Italian Cricket president Lorena Haz Paz, speaking at the press conference in preparation for the tournament on Sept. 27, hopes it will “have a greater movement in the future.”

 A tournament which is played between embassies, club teams and this year includes a team from St George’s British School, in an attempt to demonstrate and promote how cricket can build bridges across cultures and borders, and teach values that are vital to democracy. If taught and played correctly, cricket helps grow personaliteis that align with the constitutions we hold so dear today.

 Teamwork, respect, humilty, and discipline are all values that are central to the game of cricket and also are at the “heart of diplomacy,” stated a representative from the UN Rome Based Agencies team, one of the teams who will compete on Saturday.

 The tournament, orgaized mainly by the Chairman of the Commonwealth Club of Rome, Edward Mura, will include embassy teams from Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom, Bangladesh and more, alongside the UN side, and this year a debut for St George’s British School, who are “truly privelidged” to be able to compete in such a fantastic event that encourages diversity and forges “wonderful connections both on and off the pitch.”

 Alongwith the cricket, the tournament will also showcase the different cuisines of the Commonwealth nations that participate, with each team providing food from their respective countries for match tea. Thus, yet again through the medium of sport, those present will be able to break down cultural barriers and experience how other peoples live and eat.

 The same barriers that in todays world halt progess towards peace, and limit people to narrowminding approaches, resulting in discrmination, hate and a lack  of knowledge and understanding of others. Cricket tosses these issues aside, instead encouraging a culture of acceptance and inclusion, teamwork and unity, both in victory and defeat.

 The Commonwealth Club serves as a great example of the vibrant global network of friendship that is possible, and that sport, and in particular cricket, can help to achieve. Cricket “speaks the language of friendship,” the Sri Lankan ambassador Satya Rodrigo declared during the press conference, and that the spirit of the game and unity can, and will, remain beyond the boundary rope.

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