The Madras Presidency Match was an annual first-class cricket fixture played in Madras (now Chennai) from the 1915–16 season to 1951–52 between teams called the Indians and the Europeans (i.e., Europeans who were living in India). The matches were played in the Chepauk Grounds (the present M. A. Chidambaram Stadium) usually in mid-January around the time of Pongal festival, and the fixture was sometimes called the Pongal match. Of the 37 matches played, 33 were first-class and the Indians won 15 of those, the Europeans eight and ten were drawn.

Background The Presidency Match was the idea of Buchi Babu Naidu of the Madras United Club (MUC) and Percival Partridge of the Madras Cricket Club (MCC). The MCC, at the time, was an exclusively white organisation and the MUC was founded by Buchi Babu as a similar cricket club for the Indians. Shortly before the first match Buchi Babu, who was to captain the Indian side, died of a heart attack. The match still went ahead, mainly because of the efforts of B. Subramaniam, an assistant of Buchi Babu. The Indian side was captained by B. S. Ramulu Naidu and the Europeans by Partridge. This "Presidency Hindus" and "Presidency Europeans" match was to have been played between 29 December 1908 and 1 January 1909, but it was abandoned because of rain without the first innings being completed.Madras Presidency Match, 1908–09. CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 November 2023.

Subramanian organised an annual Buchi Babu Memorial Tournament from 1909 and the Europeans v Indians series was not revived until the 1915–16 season. This match, which began on the last day of 1915, is considered the first Madras Presidency Match.Tournaments in India, archived from CricketArchive

The matches The Indians generally dominated the series and it was 1920–21 before the Europeans scored their first victory. The length of the match was increased from two to three days in the third year and gates were introduced in 1921. The 1935 match was cancelled because of a dispute about sharing the profits from the previous year between the MCC and the Indian Cricket Federation.Muthiah, p. 221

The teams occasionally brought in players from outside the Madras Presidency. C. K. Nayudu, the Maharajkumar of Vizianagram, and Phiroze Palia all played for the Indians. In 1921, C. K. Nayudu hit 128 before lunch on the first day, an innings that included a famous hit which cleared "the boundary wall at the southern end of the MCC compound – to land near a coconut tree 50 yards from the MCC grounds. The hit was easily above 150 yards from the batting crease".Muthiah, p. 250, quoting C. Ramaswami. In 1927, Humphrey Ward of the Europeans hit 173, setting a record for the highest score in the series. It was bettered the next day by M. C. Sivasankaran, who made 174 for the Indians.

Decline The Second World War caused the cancellation of the 1942 match and, from then, the series went into decline. By the late 1940s, with the exodus of the British after Partition, the Europeans struggled to raise a team. As a consequence, the number of spectators saw a steady decrease. No match was played in 1949 and 1950 and those for 1951 and 1952 were two-day affairs and not first-class. The match in the latter year was watched by a crowd of six people, four of whom were journalists.Muthiah, p. 208. This was the last Madras Presidency match.

An attempt was made in 1956 to revive the competition and a match was played between Indian and European members of the Madras Cricket Club. The Indians won by an innings and the experiment was never repeated.

Results Season Captains Notes Ref 1908–09 B. S. Ramulu Naidu (Ind)P. W. Partridge (Eur) Abandoned due to rain with only one day's play possible. Not a first-class match. Madras Presidency Match, 1908–09. CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 November 2023. 1914–15 Unknown (MUC)Unknown (MCC) The teams were called Madras Cricket Club (MCC; Europeans only) and Madras United Club (MUC; non-Europeans). MUC won by an innings and 112 runs. Not a first-class match. Madras Cricket Club v Madras United Club, 1914–15. CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 November 2023. 1915–16 B. Subramanian (Ind)R. D. Richmond (Eur) Match drawn. Madras Presidency Match, 1915–16. CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 November 2023. 1916–17 B. SubramanianP. W. Partridge Indians won by 5 wickets. Madras Presidency Match, 1916–17. CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 November 2023. 1917–18 UnknownUnknown Indians won by 91 runs. Britten-Jones took the only hat-trick in the tournament. Madras Presidency Match, 1917–18. CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 November 2023. 1918–19 C. K. KrishnaswamyR. D. Richmond Indians won by 4 wickets. Madras Presidency Match, 1918–19. CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 November 2023. 1919–20 UnknownUnknown Europeans won by 68 runs. Madras Presidency Match, 1919–20. CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 November 2023. 1920–21 C. R. GanapathyK. O. Goldie Indians won by an innings and 14 runs. Madras Presidency Match, 1920–21. CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 November 2023. 1921–22 M. BaliahE. W. C. Bradfield Match drawn. Madras Presidency Match, 1921–22. CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 November 2023. 1922–23 B. SubramaniamE. W. C. Bradfield Indians won by 10 wickets. Madras Presidency Match, 1922–23. CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 November 2023. 1923–24 UnknownUnknown Indians won by an innings and 27 runs. Madras Presidency Match, 1923–24. CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 November 2023. 1924–25 C. R. GanapathyH. P. Ward Europeans won by 125 runs. Madras Presidency Match, 1924–25. CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 November 2023. 1925–26 N. N. SwarnaH. P. Ward Europeans won by 66 runs. Madras Presidency Match, 1925–26. CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 November 2023. 1926–27 C. K. NayuduC. P. Johnstone Match drawn. Madras Presidency Match, 1926–27. CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 November 2023. 1927–28 UnknownC. P. Johnstone Match drawn. Madras Presidency Match, 1927–28. CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 November 2023. 1928–29 C. K. NayuduC. P. Johnstone Europeans won by 8 wickets. Madras Presidency Match, 1928–29. CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 November 2023. 1929–30 M. VenkataramanjuluH. P. Ward Indians won by 10 runs. Madras Presidency Match, 1929–30. CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 November 2023. 1930–31 Maharajkumar of VizianagramH. P. Ward Europeans won by an innings and 6 runs. Madras Presidency Match, 1930–31. CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 November 2023. 1931–32 Maharajkumar of VizianagramH. P. Ward Match drawn. Madras Presidency Match, 1931–32. CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 November 2023. 1932–33 Maharajkumar of VizianagramH. P. Ward Indians won by an innings and 109 runs. Madras Presidency Match, 1932–33. CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 November 2023. 1933–34 M. BaliahH. P. Ward Europeans won by 31 runs. Madras Presidency Match, 1933–34. CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 November 2023. 1935–36 M. BaliahC. P. Johnstone Indians won by an innings and 87 runs. Madras Presidency Match, 1935–36. CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 November 2023. 1936–37 M. J. GopalanH. P. Ward Indians won by 247 runs. Madras Presidency Match, 1936–37. CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 November 2023. 1937–38 C. RamaswamiC. P. Johnstone Match drawn. Madras Presidency Match, 1937–38. CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 November 2023. 1938–39 M. J. GopalanC. P. Johnstone Indians won by 4 wickets. Madras Presidency Match, 1938–39. CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 November 2023. 1939–40 M. J. GopalanC. P. Johnstone Indians won by 4 wickets. Madras Presidency Match, 1939–40. CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 November 2023. 1940–41 M. J. GopalanC. P. Johnstone Indians won by 97 runs. Madras Presidency Match, 1940–41. CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 November 2023. 1942–43 M. J. GopalanC. P. Johnstone Europeans won by 8 wickets. Madras Presidency Match, 1942–43. CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 November 2023. 1943–44 A. G. Ram SinghC. P. Johnstone Match drawn. Madras Presidency Match, 1943–44. CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 November 2023. 1944–45 M. O. SrinivasanC. P. Johnstone Europeans won by 8 wickets. Madras Presidency Match, 1944–45. CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 November 2023. 1945–46 M. J. GopalanC. P. Johnstone Indians won by 5 wickets. Madras Presidency Match, 1945–46. CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 November 2023. 1946–47 G. ParthasarathiC. P. Johnstone Indians won by an innings and 63 runs. Madras Presidency Match, 1946–47. CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 November 2023. 1947–48 G. ParthasarathiC. P. Johnstone Match drawn. Madras Presidency Match, 1947–4. CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 November 2023. 1950–51 UnknownUnknown The 1950–51 and 1951–52 matches were not first-class. Both were drawn. Madras Presidency Match, 1950–51. CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 November 2023. 1951–52 UnknownUnknown Madras Presidency Match, 1951–52. CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 November 2023.

Statistics Highest individual score (Indians) 174, M. C. Sivasankaran 1927 Highest individual score (Europeans) 173, H. P. Ward 1927 Best bowling, innings (Indians) 8 for 14, A. G. Ram Singh 1936 Best bowling, innings (Europeans) 8 for 43, A. G. Penfold 1926 Best bowling, team (Indians) 13 for 49, A. G. Ram Singh 1936 Best bowling, team (Europeans) 13 for 115, J. H. Parsons 1920 Highest total (Indians) 458 1927 Highest total (Europeans) 570 for 7 declared 1931

References Notes

Sources S. Muthiah, The Spirit of Chepauk, East West Books (1998). Tournaments in India. CricketArchive. Indian Cricket 2004, Kasturi & Sons Ltd (December 2003). V. Ramnarayan, Mosquitos and other Jolly Rovers, Kalamkriya Press (2002).