M. J. Gopalan Trophy

The M. J. Gopalan Trophy was an annual first-class cricket competition played between Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and Madras (now Tamil Nadu) between 1952-53 and 2007-08.

History

The idea of the competition came about with the starting of a silver jubilee fund in 1952 to celebrate M.J. Gopalan's 25 years as a cricket and hockey player.[1] Through the fund, an annual cricket match was instituted between Madras and Ceylon and named after Gopalan. The trophy was donated by the Madras cricket administrator V. Pattabhiraman and was presented to the victors after the first match by Learie Constantine.[2]

Ceylon won the first match.[3] The match became a regular fixture in the calendar until Sri Lanka received Test status and the competition was stopped. It was revived in 2000 with a match between Tamil Nadu and a Colombo District Cricket Association.[4] Two years later the fixture was dropped again but in 2007 the Sri Lankan and Tamil Nadu boards agreed to restart the competition.[5] A match was played in September 2007 between Tamil Nadu and a Sri Lankan XI, won by the Sri Lankan team.[6] No matches for the trophy have been played since.

Results

There have been 27 first-class matches for the Gopalan Trophy. The names of the competing sides have varied, especially the Sri Lankan teams.

SeasonVenueResult
1952-53Chepauk Stadium, MadrasCeylon by 95 runs
1953-54Nondescripts Cricket Club Ground, ColomboCeylon Cricket Association by an innings and 108 runs
1955-56Nehru Stadium, MadrasCeylon by an innings and 14 runs
1956-57P. Saravanamuttu Stadium, ColomboCeylon Cricket Association by 5 wickets
1957-58Chepauk Stadium, MadrasMadras by 2 wickets
1958-59P. Saravanamuttu Stadium, ColomboDrawn
1959-60Nehru Stadium, MadrasMadras by 8 wickets
1960-61P. Saravanamuttu Stadium, ColomboCeylon Cricket Association by 169 runs
1961-62Nehru Stadium, MadrasCeylon by an innings and 66 runs
1963-64P. Saravanamuttu Stadium, ColomboCeylon Board President's XI by 6 wickets
1965-66P. Saravanamuttu Stadium, ColomboDrawn
1966-67Chepauk Stadium, MadrasDrawn
1967-68P. Saravanamuttu Stadium, ColomboCeylon Board President's Under-27s XI by 105 runs
1968-69Chepauk Stadium, MadrasDrawn
1969-70P. Saravanamuttu Stadium, ColomboDrawn
1970-71Chepauk Stadium, MadrasDrawn
1971-72Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, ColomboTamil Nadu by an innings and 9 runs
1972-73Chepauk Stadium, MadrasTamil Nadu by 3 runs
1973-74P. Saravanamuttu Stadium, ColomboDrawn
1974-75Mahatma Gandhi Stadium, SalemTamil Nadu by an innings and 73 runs
1975-76Colombo Cricket Club Ground, ColomboSri Lanka Board President's XI by 22 runs
1976-77Chepauk Stadium, MadrasDrawn
1980-81Mahatma Gandhi Stadium, SalemDrawn
1982-83P. Saravanamuttu Stadium, ColomboDrawn
2000-01Sinhalese Sports Club Ground, ColomboDrawn
2001-02Chepauk Stadium, MadrasDrawn
2007-08Colts Cricket Club Ground, ColomboSri Lanka Cricket XI by an innings and 96 runs

Ceylon/Sri Lanka have won 10 times, Madras/Tamil Nadu 5 times, and 12 matches have been drawn.

Individual records

The highest score for Ceylon/Sri Lanka is 212 by Ievers Gunasekera in 1958-59,[7] and the highest for Madras/Tamil Nadu is 179 by Michael Dalvi in 1974-75.[8] The best innings figures for Ceylon/Sri Lanka are 8 for 43 by Lalith Kaluperuma in 1975-76,[9] and the best for Madras/Tamil Nadu are 8 for 60 by V.V. Kumar in 1957-58.[10] The best match figures for Ceylon/Sri Lanka are 11 for 43 (6 for 17 and 5 for 26) by John Arenhold in 1956-57,[11] and the best for Madras/Tamil Nadu are 12 for 108 (4 for 48 and 8 for 60) by V.V. Kumar in 1957-58.

Dalvi, A. C. M. Lafir and Duleep Mendis have scored two centuries. Srinivasaraghavan Venkataraghavan has taken 10 or more wickets in a match four times.

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References
  1. "Honouring MJ Gopalan". The Hindu. 2002-01-03. Archived from the original on 2011-07-09. Retrieved 2007-09-23.
  2. Neil Wijeratne, Batting on a Matting Wicket, Neil Wijeratne, Wattala, 2011, pp. 170-180.
  3. Madras v Ceylon 1952-53
  4. "The revival of a tournament". Frontline. 2000-11-11. Retrieved 2007-09-22.
  5. "Ashwin leads Tamil Nadu in revived Gopalan Trophy". Cricinfo. 2007-09-21. Retrieved 2007-09-22.
  6. Sri Lanka Cricket XI v Tamil Nadu 2007-08
  7. Ceylon Cricket Association v Madras 1958-59
  8. Tamil Nadu v Sri Lanka 1974-75
  9. Sri Lanka Board President's XI v Tamil Nadu 1975-76
  10. Madras v Ceylon 1957-58
  11. Ceylon Cricket Association v Madras 1956-57

Further reading
  • S. S. Perera, The Janashakthi Book of Sri Lanka Cricket (1832–1996), Janashakthi Insurance, Colombo, 1999, pp. 420–23
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