The Bombay tournament — long contested between Europeans and Parsis — became a Triangular in 1907 with the addition of the Hindus, and a Quadrangular in 1912 with the addition of the Muslims. Through the 1910s it grew into the most important regular cricket event in India and the immediate precursor of all-India representative cricket.
European clubs in Bombay had played the Parsis since the 1890s. Hindu and Muslim cricketers had long pressed for inclusion.
The Hindu Gymkhana joined in 1907; the Mohammedan Gymkhana in 1912. By 1913 the tournament had its full four-team round-robin format.
Cricket in Bombay had been organised on communal lines from the late nineteenth century. The Parsis had played the Europeans regularly from the 1890s. The Bombay Hindu Gymkhana entered the tournament in 1907, making it Triangular; the Mohammedan (later Islam) Gymkhana joined in 1912, making it the Bombay Quadrangular. From that year until 1936 — when a fifth team, 'The Rest', made it Pentangular — the Quadrangular was the leading regular event in Indian cricket. Through the 1910s it produced the first generation of Indian cricketing names: Palwankar Baloo and his brothers, the Parsi all-rounder Pheroze Palia's predecessors, the Hindu batsman D.B. Deodhar, and the legendary Maharaja of Patiala's protégés. Although communal in form, it was the practical training ground for the side that would eventually become India's first Test team in 1932.
1907: Hindus join; Triangular created
1912: Muslims join; Quadrangular created
1910s: Palwankar Baloo and brothers dominate Hindu side
1936: 'The Rest' added; Pentangular era begins
1890s
Parsis vs Europeans annual matches in Bombay
1907
Hindus join; Triangular created
1912
Muslims join; Quadrangular created
1934
Ranji Trophy launched as national equivalent
“The Quadrangular was the great training ground of Indian Test cricket.”
The Quadrangular continued until 1946. By then it had become controversial on communal grounds — Gandhi himself eventually called for its abolition. It was the immediate ancestor of the Ranji Trophy (started 1934) and of the BCCI's national structure.
The Quadrangular's 1912 expansion is the moment Indian cricket organised itself on a sustained inter-community basis — the foundation of everything that came after.
Modern Indian cricket can be traced through the Quadrangular more directly than through any other pre-1932 institution. It produced the first generation of Indian cricketers whose names are still remembered.
Yorkshire v Essex
1932-06-16
On 15-16 June 1932 Herbert Sutcliffe (313) and Percy Holmes (224*) put on 555 for the first wicket against Essex at Leyton, breaking the world first-class record for any wicket and adding a layer of folklore — including a scoreboard that read 554 for several minutes and a hastily reversed declaration — that has clung to the partnership ever since.
Australia v England
1933-02-14
With the fate of the Bodyline series in the balance and England 216 for 6 chasing 340, Eddie Paynter checked himself out of a Brisbane hospital where he was being treated for acute tonsillitis, taxied to the Gabba in pyjamas and a dressing gown, and batted for nearly four hours to score 83. England drew level on first innings, won the Test by six wickets and the series 4-1.
Australia
1934-09-25
Days after the 1934 Oval Test, Bradman fell seriously ill with appendicitis that progressed to peritonitis. With antibiotics not yet available, he was given little chance of survival; his wife Jessie left Adelaide on a sea voyage to England prepared for the worst. He recovered after weeks of intensive nursing in a London nursing home and returned to first-class cricket the following Australian summer.