Cricket Club, Aligarh Muslim University

Cricket Club, Aligarh Muslim University (formerly, MAO Cricket Club) was established in the year 1878 at Aligarh.

Cricket Club, Aligarh Muslim University
Captain: Tahmeed Ahmad
Coach: Faisal M. R. K. Sherwani
Founded: 1878 (1878)
Home ground: Willingdon Cricket Ground, Aligarh
Capacity: 2000
First-class debut: vs Marylebone Cricket Club
in 1927
at Willingdon Cricket Ground, Aligarh
Rohinton Baria Trophy wins: 0
University Cricket Championship wins: 0
North Zone Inter-Varsity Cricket (Men's) Tournament wins: ??
Official website: Official website

Club History

Cricket at Aligarh started in 1878 when the mathematics professor, Rama Shankar Mishra, founded a cricket club, whose members were expected to wear a uniform of blue flannel coat, shirt, knickerbockers and cap. The club didn’t at first thrive. It was not till Theodore Beck arrived in 1883 that real interest in cricket and sports began.

The club toured Simla, Patiala and Bombay and performed very well.[1] In 1884 Theodore Beck took the club on a tour round the Punjab including a match against Government College, Lahore.

When Indian team toured England in 1922, three players came from Aligarh.[2]

In the year 1903 Oxford University Authentics visited India and played a two-day match at Aligarh. The match ended in a draw.[3] On 18 & 19 February 1927 the club played a first-class match against Marylebone Cricket Club at Willingdon Cricket Ground, Aligarh and lost.[4][5] Nazir Ali also played for the club.[6]

Aligarh Eleven won two consecutive matches against the Parsees cricket team. These two matches were held at Aligarh under the captainship of Khwaja M. Abdullah of Jalandhar. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan and many other respected personalities came to view this match themselves.

Aligarh Eleven at that time was regarded as the best cricket team of the time in India – Professor Llewellyn Tipping.[3]

The remarkable historical match of 'MAO College Cricket Team' / 'Aligarh Eleven' was played in Patiala in February 1900 AD. It was played and won under the captaincy of Ali Hasan. The report of this victory was also published in The Pioneer. This match was against the team of His Highness Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala. His Highness's team included J. T. Hearne (Middlesex) and W. Brockwell (Surrey). His Highness Maharajadhiraj Sir Bhupendra Singh, ruler of the erstwhile Patiala State, used to bring Patiala, British players of fame to play with and to coach his team players. He invited in his team J. T. Hearne (Middlesex), W. Brockwell (Surrey), C. B. Fry and Frank Tarrant. His Highness Maharajadhiraj Sir Bhupendra Singh donated to the most important national tournament, the Ranji Trophy, to perpetuate the memory of that great cricket wizard, the late His Highness Maharaja Ranjit Singh, lovingly known as "Ranji", about whom Neville Cardus said, "It is not in nature that there should be another Ranji".

By custom, the captain of the club stays at 13 SS East.[7]

In First-Class Cricket

Cricket Club, Aligarh Muslim University is the only university based cricket club in India to have played first-class cricket. It made its first-class debut against the Marylebone Cricket Club in a two-day match played on 18 and 19 February 1927 on its home ground.

It went on to play two more first-class matches against Freelooters cricket team in the Moin-ud-Dowlah Gold Cup Tournament in 1931.[8]

Inter-Varsity Cricket Honours

Rohinton Baria Trophy

Note: (*) indicates that before the season 1977/78 there were no matches held for third place.

University Cricket Championship
North Zone Inter-University Cricket (Men's) Championship

Former Captains

References

  1. ↑ Majumdar, Boria (2013-10-18). Cricket in Colonial India 1780 – 1947. Routledge. ISBN 9781317970132.
  2. ↑ Oborne, Peter (2015-04-09). Wounded Tiger: A History of Cricket in Pakistan. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781849832489.
  3. ↑ "Women's College of Aligarh Muslim University | TwoCircles.net". twocircles.net. Retrieved 2015-11-04.
  4. ↑ "The Cricketer - Cricket Archive - The Oracle". stats.thecricketer.com. Retrieved 2015-11-04.
  5. ↑ "The Home of CricketArchive". cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 2015-11-14.
  6. ↑ "Pakistan Cricket - 'our cricket' website". www.pcboard.com.pk. Retrieved 2015-11-05.
  7. ↑ Guha, Ramachandra (2014-10-10). A Corner of a Foreign Field: The Indian History of a British Sport (New and Updated Edition). Penguin Books Limited. ISBN 9789351186939.
  8. ↑ "The Home of CricketArchive". cricketarchive.com. Retrieved 2016-05-04.

External links

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