While cricket enthusiasts are busy watching the Cricket World Cup 2023, a priest from Wayanad is on a different cricket mission.
Father Tom John, Order of Friar Minor, a philatelist at Chundale here, is showing his passion for the sport by collecting stamps of countries celebrating the World Cup.
He has collected nearly 1,200 cricket-related stamps issued by various countries, including the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, West Indies, Sri Lanka, India, and South Africa. Each stamp from the priest’s collection will help viewers learn about the history of the more than four-decade-old cricket World Cup.
“I don’t think I have missed out on any cricket stamp released by any country. I have all the stamps issued around the world since the inception of the cup in 1975,” says Fr. Tom. However, the Franciscan priest regrets that India is yet to issue a stamp on World Cup cricket while other countries have released stamps on every edition of the World Cup.
Usually, the countries that host the World Cup will issue cricket stamps before the match, but the country is yet to issue it, Fr. Tom, an ardent fan of former Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, says.
The priest plays cricket and trains children on the premises of his ashram, Prakruthi Mithra, at Pakkalippallam, near Chundale, in the district in the evenings. The priest has a collection of more than 50,000 stamps on 270 subjects, including more than 1,600 stamps on Christmas.
“In my childhood, I used to collect colourful matchboxes,” he says. Later his attention turned to stamps which he collects according to themes. “Collecting stamps is not so easy. It consumes a lot of money, energy, and time,” he says.
Father Tom will be in Ahmedabad to watch the final of the 13th edition of the World Cup 2023 to be held at Narendra Modi Stadium on November 19.
The priest has plans to set up a stamp museum at Chippilithod in Kozhikode district.
