Tamil Nadu Cricket Association

One of the leading Cricket Associations in the country today, the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association was established in 1930 for promoting and popularizing the game of cricket in the State. The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association was also among the founder units of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), and has played a significant role in shaping the objectives and activities of the Board over the last five decades.

In course of its illustrious history, the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association has helped nurture promising young talent and build up many cricket players of repute, who have subsequently gone on to represent India. Among them mention must be made of C. Ramasamy, M.J. Gopalan, C.R.Rangachary, A.G. Kripal Singh, S. Venkataraghavan, V.V. Kumar, Bharath Reddy, Robin Singh, K. Srikkant, L. Sivaramakrishnan, W.V. Raman, S. Ramesh and Hemang K. Badani. As we know, Shri S. Venkataraghavan and Shri K. Srikkanth also had the honour of captaining the India Cricket Team. The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association is also perhaps the only sports Association that has produced two double internationals for the country, namely Shri C. Ramasamy who represented the country in both cricket and tennis, and Shri M.J. Gopalan who donned the country’s colours in cricket and hockey.

Since its inception, the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association has had the privilege of hosting 37 Tests and

10 One Day International Cricket Matches. The construction of the magnificent M.A. Chidambaram Stadium at Chepauk also marks a landmark in its history. Its foundation stone was laid in 1971, and the stadium, which can accommodate 50,000 spectators, was completed in 1979. In the wake of the advent and tremendous popularity of one day cricket matches, and subsequently of day/night cricket, flood lights conforming to international standards were installed by the TNCA to make Chepauk an attractive venue for one day internationals. The first One Day International played under floodlights in Chepauk was between New Zealand and Australia in 1996. Further, in July 2005, the Executive Committee of the TNCA approved the establishment of a TNCA Cricket Academy. Apart from supplying free cricket balls to all the city and district teams, TNCA has also been helping the District Cricket Associations for laying of turf wickets and purchase of essential infrastructural equipments.

The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association has thus been rendering yeoman service in building cricket infrastructure in the State, as also in inducting and shaping young and talented cricketers, many of whom have been picked up to represent India in the international arena.