An MCC of our own

The Madras Cricket Club (MCC) today languishes in the third division of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) league." This is a lament you hear from die-hard loyalists of the first sports club in the state, mourning the decline in the fortunes of an institution that was synonymous with Madras cricket of yore.

Personally, I see no cause for such regrets, as the top two divisions are almost entirely dominated by teams backed by business houses; the private club is an anachronism in today's commercialised cricket environment. The third division and below are much more representative of genuine club cricket than the first two. True, MCC is probably the most elitist of the private cricket clubs of Chennai, the only one with a top-class ground it can call its own, but it is still a genuine club side, not a company-sponsored team.

MCC is more than a cricket club, however. It is the original home of almost every major sport in Chennai. Tennis was first played there in 1883, and the first lawn tennis tournament in the south was organised by MCC four years later. Hockey started at the club in 1894. A year later, the first athletics meet in the province was conducted by MCC. Bicycle polo, croquet and quoits came to the club in 1899. A squash racquets court was built in 1900, and a decade later came the first billiards and snooker tables. Today MCC boasts excellent facilities for a variety of games: cricket, hockey, badminton, tennis, squash, billiards and snooker, and table tennis. A top-class gymnasium, and international standard swimming pool, coaching for a number of games, yoga, and a library with Internet connectivity make it a desirable destination after a hard day's work.

MCC has also entered into an agreement with the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association to demolish the present clubhouse and build a new clubhouse and sports complex in its place. The club and the spectators' stand above it will be redesigned to integrate with the rest of the recently renovated stands at the MAC stadium. The plan includes a sports complex with multiple courts for tennis, squash and badminton and other sports and entertainment facilities.

Golden years
From 1846 to 1932, when the Madras (now Tamil Nadu) Cricket Association was formed, MCC ran all cricket in the Presidency. The Madras league opened in 1932 but MCC did not participate initially as it was opposed to individual prizes being awarded, as was the practice in the league then. When MCC entered the league in 1939, they were led by the allrounder CP Johnstone, formerly of Kent. Johnstone was the most successful captain of both MCC and Madras in the Ranji Trophy, and president of both MCC and the Madras Cricket Association. He, the wicketkeeper HP Ward, CN Reed, EWD Jeffares, and AW Stansfeld were the most prominent cricketers of the club. Bowling was the weak link, and Johnstone with his gentle medium pace and swing was its leading bowler. The fielding combination was outstanding, though.

MCC won the league for the first time in 1949-50, with an Indian-majority XI. The side had an average age of close to 40, but they still proved too strong for most of their opponents. Murari Naidu and C Ramaswami were consistent with the bat. The Sussex pro Bert Wensley was a useful allrounder when he was not coaching. Jeffares captained the side in the absence of Reed, then the captain, who was away in England for most of the season. He and HRJ Taylor, the slow left-armer, led the bowling averages.

The club's second league title came in 1952-53 under the captaincy of Hugh Horton. The swing bowler Phil J Dickinson took a record 65 wickets in all games at an average of 8.1. The Olympian ELR Philip - later Prabhakar - made an impressive debut as an allrounder, and so did Balu Alaganan, who later captained Madras to their first Ranji Trophy triumph in 1954-55. The club's fastest bowler N Kannayiram was away in the West Indies with the Indian team. Learie Constantine, on a visit, appeared in a friendly game at Chepauk.

MCC won the league again the following season. In form was the outstanding young batsman CD Gopinath, who went on to play for India a few seasons later. Among the leading batsmen was the opener M Suryanarayan, a grandson of Buchi Babu Nayudu and son of M Baliah. Suri made his debut for India in an unofficial Test that season.

In 1957-58 Gopinath captained MCC for the first time, leading them to yet another league title. MK Balakrishnan, the allrounder, was all elegance with his intelligent swing bowling and erect majesty as a batsman. HW Joynt was an effective swing bowler, and so was Suri's younger brother MM Kumar, who also batted usefully. Kannayiram continued to bag wickets with his sharp pace.

The 1958-59 season rolled out well once again for MCC - Gopinath was a successful captain once again, and the same personnel played key roles. Gopinath was also the captain in 1960-61 and 1965-66, the next two occasions when MCC topped the table. The wicketkeeper AC Rajamanickam and the allrounder M Subramaniam were the ewcomers who performed consistently. Another feisty allrounder, Jawad Hussain, was to achieve fame a couple of decades later through the deeds of his son Nasser, who did nothing of note in his brief appearance for MCC in the 1980s but went on to become a successful England captain.

Mike Dalvi, a brilliant new find of the seventies, went on to captain MCC to its next league championship success, in the 1975-76 season - the last time the club won. Dalvi's team included old reliables MM Kumar, M Subramaniam, JC Patel, K Rajendran, C Lakshman Swarup and PK Belliappa, besides a few talented youngsters: Sushil Haridas and his brother Sunil, a fast bowler; the left-arm spinner SK Patel, and the all rounder JS Ghanshyam.

The seventies and eighties saw some fine cricketers such as S Venkataraghavan, Bharath Reddy, PS Moses, Robin Singh, Akbar Ebrahim, Arvind Gopinath, D Girish, and P Unnikrishnan (better known for his vocals in classical and film music) turn out for the club. But by the time the nineties came along, the writing on the wall was clear. Private clubs could no longer withstand the onslaught of corporate sponsorship and retain their players. Inevitably MCC slid from the first division to the second, and eventually to the third.

The home of Madras cricket
A painting dated 1792 suggests that British sailors were already playing cricket on the Island grounds north-east of Chennai cricket's present headquarters at Chepauk. When Alexander Arbuthnot arrived in Madras in 1842 to join the civil service, he joined these games, and four years later founded the Madras Cricket Club there, across from where the Madras Medical College is today. The pavilion was a tent pitched before a match began. In 1848 Major General Sir Henry Pottinger, the governor of Madras, was elected the first President of the club. He was succeeded by the acting governor Daniel Eliot (1854-55). Lord Harris, whose name was to adorn a famous cricket shield in Bombay, was the next governor of Madras, and president of MCC from 1855 to 1859. The practice of the governor assuming the club's presidency continued until 1925.

Acquired by the government in 1859, Chepauk, part of the vast palace grounds of the Nawab of the Carnatic, became the home of MCC in 1865. And, but for an interregnum of two years when it moved back to the Island during the digging of the Buckingham Canal which cut through the club's grounds, MCC has remained at Chepauk, sharing its beautiful ground with the TNCA in an uneasy truce.

The Chisholm pavilion in the southwestern corner of the ground was badly damaged by a cyclone in 1889, and the Irwin pavilion replaced it in 1892.

The Irwin pavilion with its old Anglo-Indian architecture, and the picturesque ground surrounded by trees, was crucial to the romance of Chepauk, until the building of the stadium in the 1970s - it was the only viable course of action open to the club; the alternative would have been to surrender the ground to the government for non-sporting purposes - spelt the end of pavilion and trees both.

The first attempts at building a stadium at the club were made as early as 1946. The National Sports Club, an institution created and headed by Anthony De Mello, the secretary - and later the president - of the BCCI, had made the proposal, which was accepted by MCC with the proviso that government approval be obtained.

The stadium was not built then, though the resolution in favour of it was passed, but the idea had come to stay. When MA Chidambaram became the Madras Cricket Association's president in 1956, the association was keen to occupy the ground on a permanent basis. MCC, though, was reluctant to loan the use of the ground frequently, fearing the deterioration of its condition. As a result, between 1952, when India won their first Test, beating England, and January 1967, when Garry Sobers's West Indies played an exciting draw there, Test cricket was played at the Corporation (later Nehru) Stadium.

Elitist it may be for a cricket club, but as a British institution that has taken firm roots in India, MCC long ago shed its exclusive character - women first and Indians later were admitted in the years approaching Indian independence. Today, though it still tries to be selective in admitting new members, once in, you can be assured of equal treatment regardless of your social status. Among all the clubs in Chennai, MCC has the most distinct sporting character, and members can pursue their sporting interests to their heart's content. Its bar, the Yorker, is one of the most elegant anywhere, and the food outstanding. MCC is today a much sought-after haven for the upwardly mobile denizens of Chennai.