JASC: Journal of Applied Science and Computations ISSN NO: 1076-5131
ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF CRICKETING CULTURE IN COLONIAL MADRAS
Dr.R.XAVIER
Assistant professr
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY, LOYOLA COLLEGE,CHENNAI-34
ABSTRACT
The paper sheds light on the Phenomenon that shook the way people identified India globally.
The Phenomenon discussed here is none other than the game of Cricket and its humble origins in
the all embracing city of Madras. The paper reviews the role played by the Europeans in shaping
the cricketing culture of the city and transforming it into a hub of cricketing activity in South
India. The paper also tries to transcend the various phases in the development of the game albeit
the able stewardship of the Madras Cricket Club and the Madras Cricket Association in the era
prior to the country’s Independence. Overall it serves as an eye-opener for the cricket enthusiasts
of Madras who take immense pride in following the gentleman’s game to know where it all
began in the city they have always cherished being part of.
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INTRODUCTION
The city of Madras was found in the year 1639 A.D. On the 1 st of March, the following
year, Francis Day, representing the English East India Company obtained permission to establish
a commercial centre in Madras. The name of this coastal town metamorphosed from Sri
Rangarajapatnam to Chennapatnam and finally to Madras. 1
The British moved into Madras by 1639 A.D. and by the 17 th and 18 th century, the Island
to the south of Fort.St.George and Guindy Moade, the area between Guindy Forest and
St.Thomas Mount, were where they went a Hauking, Riding, Racing or played Polo. It was in the
early 19 th Century that games like Cricket, Hockey and Rugby put down roots in the bigger
towns and cities and Tennis, Squash, Badminton, Bridge and Billiards were played in all stations.
It is worthy to note that all these activities were closely linked with the clubs. 2
Chepauk is undoubtedly the nursery of Madras Cricket. The Chepauk was occupied by
the Nawab of Carnatic. In 1767, Nawab Muhammad Ali acquired settlements in Chepauk and
added to them vacant spots of sandy ground on the North and the East. On these spots sprang up
the Chepauk Palace with artistic elegance in 1768. 3
Till 1855, the game of Cricket in Madras was played in the Island Grounds. In the year
1855, the Madras Government abolished the title of the Nawab of Arcot on the death of the last
titular Nawab, Ghulam Muhammad Ghaus. After that the Nawab’s military forces were
disbanded and all the buildings and land occupied by him in Chepauk were sold by public
auction and acquired by the government in 1859. The lands to the west of the palace were
allotted as playing fields. 4
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The first representative match played at Chepauk dates back to January 6 th and 7th , 1864.
The participants in the Match were the Madras Cricket Club and a Calcutta XI. 5 Cricket during
the years 1876-1877 in Chepauk was hampered due to the construction of the Buckingham
Canal. During 1876 – 78, the Madras Presidency was struck deeply by the vagaries of a great
Famine. The Government dug the Buckingham canal through the Chepauk grounds as part of the
relief operations, undertaken in connection with the Famine. The Canal extended for about 261
miles along the east coast of the Presidency from Pedaganjam to Marakanam. 6
In fact the Canal used to be quite a pleasant and useful water way back then. Therefore
Cricket went back to the Island Grounds. In 1880, the club once more found its Head Quarters in
Chepauk with possession of a piece of ground. In 1881, many students used the ground as a short
cut to reach the Presidency College. Hence, in the next year, a sanction was obtained from the
board of revenue, which was then in charge of the Chepauk ground to enclose the ground with
railings at a cost of little over Rs.400. Thus once again the Chepauk ground was used for playing
cricket. 7
MADRAS CRICKET CLUB- THE CYNOSURE OF SOUTH INDIAN
SPORTS
The First sports club to be developed by the British in Madras was the Madras Cricket
Club which was in more ways than one responsible for the spread of sports in South India. And it
owes its beginnings to Sir Alexander .J. Arbuthnot. Sir Alexander, an important figure in the 19 th
century History of the Madras Presidency, founded the Madras Cricket Club in 1846, a fact
established beyond doubt in his memoirs, “ Memories of Rugby and India”, published in 1910 by
T.Fisher Unwin of London.
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The earliest cricket played in Madras, believed to be in 1765, was played on the Island in
the shadow of Fort.St.George. It was here that the first tents of the Madras Cricket Club were
pitched on Match days. The land belonged to the military and was lent to the club on Informal
Basis. 8
Today, the Madras Cricket Club is known as the “Cradle of South Indian Cricket.” In
1865, the government granted the Madras Cricket Club a piece of land on the Chepauk Premises
for the construction of a cricket ground. By 20 th October, 1865, Rs.730 had been spent on
leveling the ground. The following year a pavilion designed by Robert Chisholm, Consulting
Architect to the government, was built in the Northwest corner of the ground. 9
In the early days the Madras Cricket Club started conducting Hockey, Tennis and Squash
tournaments in addition to the cricket tournament. Another important activity of the club was the
organization of the “Presidency Matches”. In 1915, after serious discussions the Madras Cricket
Club represented by Percival Partridge and the Madras United Cub under the illustrious Buchi
Babu finally agreed to stage an annual fixture, between the Presidency Europeans and the
Presidency Indians.
In the 1920’s, grounds of the club were still not enclosed with boundary walls and it was
felt desirable by the members to avoid the nuisance of stray cattle, to construct a boundary wall
and a special general meeting of the members of the club was held on 13 th March 1922 to
consider the boundary wall, presidency matches, Tennis and Hockey tournaments.
After some discussion, the authorities of the club passed the following resolution:
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“That a boundary wall and railings be created around the club grounds as per plans already
prepared and that the net proceeds of the Cricket matches, Tennis and Hockey tournaments are
allotted each year to the wall account liquidated.”
The amendment was accepted by the Chairman and put to the vote of the members present and
carried out unanimously. 10
The first mention of a lease for the ground appeared in 1922, in the proceedings of a
Committee meeting on 6 th September. After the signing of the lease, the club’s activities in all
directions increased considerably and the Chepauk grounds came to be a recognized cricketing
centre for both Ranji Trophy as well as International matches.
Another important milestone in the History of the club was its registration. The club was
registered under the Indian Companies act in 1926. The Madras government gave a 20 year lease
of the ground which was subsequently renewed for a further period of 20 years ending in 1966,
on which date the government handed over the ground to the Madras Cricket Association for the
construction of a Club House and a stadium. 11
The Madras Cricket Club in the beginning was purely a non-Indian entity. Entry into the
club pavilion was denied to the Indian Cricketers. So, a sheltering tree was the grand stand of the
Indian Teams. The Early 1930’s witnessed a slow but steady change in scenario.
The Indians were admitted in very small numbers in the 1930’s. Later the numbers
increased gradually. In the late 30’s, the Raja of Chettinad, Dr.P.Subbarayan, the Yuva Raja of
Pithapuram and V.R. Lakshmi Ratan were admitted as the first batch of Indians. 12
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In the years between 1934 and 1947, the Madras Cricket Club got full support from the
Government of Madras. During this period the club played a dramatic part in the organization
and development of Madras Cricket. The activities of the club increased considerably during this
period. For all the representative matches played in the Madras Cricket Club Grounds, the club
was entitled to a net profit of 20%. The 20% net profit was a windfall for the clubs funds. Test
Matches were indeed a gale occasion for the Members. 13
PHASES OF DEVELOPMENT
The development of the game in Madras can be conveniently divided into two phases.
The first phase which encompassed the years between 1890 and 1914 witnessed the formation of
a number of Indian Clubs fostering Cricket. Chief among them were the Madras United Club and
the South Indian Athletic Association. They played many friendly matches among themselves.
The Young Men’s Indian Association, initially associated with Dr.Annie Beasant, was a
formidable team. It included B.Subramanium, C.Krishnaswamy Pillai and C.R.Ganapathy. These
three are generally considered as the “Fathers of Madras Cricket”. 14
The visits of overseas teams to Madras, Lord Hawke’s team in 1892, and the Oxford
Authentics in 1902, increased the number of players and weekend matches between clubs
became an established routine. But still there was no association or organization to control and
promote the game. This was one of the important drawbacks which very much affected the
progress of Madras Cricket in the early 1920’s.
The second phase encompassed the years between the two world wars, marked the
progress of the game and the establishment of the Association. An important landmark in the
History of Madras Cricket was A.E.R.Gilligan’s visit to India with a strong English team. After
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the visit of Gilligan’s team to Madras, cricket gained tremendous popularity and led to a striking
interest in the game among school boys, street urchins and college students. The club
membership too went up leaps and bounds. Divisional matches were instituted and conducted
regularly. Around 12 to 13 clubs participated fiercely in those matches.
The emergence of new cricket clubs paved the way for attaining Social Influence and
mass attraction for the game in the city. It also paved the way for the formation of the Madras
Cricket Association. The game by this time became popular among the college students leading
to the organization of Inter-Collegiate Cricket Tournaments in the city. 15
THE MADRAS CRICKET ASSOCIATION- THE STORY OF ITS BIRTH
AND RESURGENCE
The formation of the Madras Cricket Association lends a fascinating tale to itself. The
Association was established in the year 1930. Sir. Daniel Richmond became the first president of
the Association. The Madras Cricket Club, The Madras United Club and the South Indian
Athletic Association were founder members. 16
In the late 1920’s Madras Cricket club did not have a real hold on the game and was
active only when a team from abroad visited the city. The organization and management of
representative matches in Madras were fully executed by the club where only Europeans were
members. A feeling was growing in the Indian Sporting Circles that Indian Clubs should take a
more active part not only in the management of the representative matches but also in the
selection of the teams.
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After a momentous struggle, the Indian Clubs succeeded in their efforts and the Madras
Cricket Association was formed. The year 1930 is regarded as the year of Inception of a
centralized organizational set up for the promotion of the game in Madras. The Association
began to conduct matches at all levels and functioned quite effectively.
The conduct of the Presidency match jointly by the Madras Cricket Club and the Madras
United Club, ignoring other clubs in the city led to agitations which culminated in the formation
of the “Indian Cricket Federation”. It was inaugurated in the Presidency College Pavilion under
the Chairmanship of the late Prof.C.K.Krishnaswamy Pillai of Presidency College on April 10,
1932. 17
The formation of the Indian Cricket Federation can be considered as the most important
landmark in the annals of Madras Cricket, as the Federation lost no time in organizing the game
in the right manner in the city. The first step was taken in the following season, 1932-33, by
setting a league Championship for member clubs on the lines of the English County
Championship. 18 Eighteen teams took part and the “Triplicane Cricket Club” had the honor of
being the first Champions. The federation also formed a panel of umpires in 1935-1936 to take
the game to professional levels.
Certain sequence of events between the Indian Cricket Federation and the Madras Cricket
Club led to the re-formation of the Madras Cricket Association, with all the 45 clubs in the city
as members. On April 10, 1935, a meeting of the representatives of all the clubs in the city was
held at the premises of the Madras Cricket Club under the President ship of Sir. Daniel
Richmond. The office bearers of the association were elected at the same meeting. 19
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On April 30, 1935, the Madras Cricket Association took complete control of the league
for the first time. The conduct of the league championship from the 1935-36 seasons onwards by
the Association was the second vital Landmark in the history of cricket in the city.
The association attained great success in all its activities only because of the great efforts
of the administrators. It was under Sir.R.D.Richmond that those affairs of the Association
touched its zenith. In his Honor the years between 1931 and 1940 is rightly known as the
“Richmond Decade” in the cricketing circles of the city.
Dr.P.Subbarayan was president of the association from 1935-1941. He was a politician
and a great sportsman. He was a collector of books on cricket and his entire collection has been
presented to the Madras Cricket Association by his son and daughter. The successive able
leadership had enabled the elected members of the clubs to promote the ideals of the association.
They rendered their yeomen service to the game by promoting it at the city, district and
combined representative levels at the scholastic, collegiate and senior standards. These measures
received considerable attention from the public as well. 20
CONCLUSION
The important aspect is that all these Endeavors had fashioned a splendid pattern,
progressing step by step from the school stage to the senior state level, which has helped the
steady development of the young cricketer. Since independence one could see another important
and vital change in the form of cricket i.e. the entry of institutional teams in the league
competitions. Now more than half the numbers of participants in the league and First class
competitions are the members of institutional teams or the clubs backed by Firms. These Firms
have been playing a vital role in the development of league and first class cricket in Tamil Nadu.
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Ever since Independence, the Madras Cricket Club too has transformed into a social club with a
wider range of activities. The club today enjoys a more casual atmosphere than the more senior
clubs something synonymous with the free wheeling administration of the club post
Independence. Thus the reason for Madras flourishing as a cricketing hub is enunciated.21
1 S.B.Bhattacherjee ,”Encyclopedia of Indian Events and Dates”, 1980, p.139 2 S.Muthiah .,”The Spirit Of Chepauk- The MCC Story, 150 years of a Sporting Tradition” , East West books, pvt ltd, Chennai,1998, p.02 3 C.S.Srinivachari. ,”History of the city of Madras”, Madras, 1939, p.181 4 Golden Jubilee Commemoration volume of TNCA (1930-1980), p.219 5 Madras Cricket Club (1848-1968); 120th Anniversary Commemoration Volume, p.24 6C.S.Srinivachari , p.268 7 Madras Cricket Club File Report. 8S.Muthiah , p.34 9 Madras Cricket Club, p.60 10 ibid, p.62 11 ibid, p.25 12 ibid, p.57 13 ibid 14 Golden Jubilee Commemoration volume of TNCA (1930-1980), p.125 15 Madras Cricket Club, p.39 16 Golden Jubilee Commemoration volume of TNCA (1930-1980), p.191 17 ibid 18 ibid 19 ibid, p.221
20 Madras Cricket Club, p.63 21 S.Muthiah, ” At Home, In Madras- A Handbook”, Overseas Women’s Club Publishers,Madras, 1995, p.309
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