On 4-5 December 1824 the Madras garrison played a touring Trichinopoly side at the Island Ground in Madras — the earliest documented inter-garrison fixture in southern India and the first preserved Madras two-day cricket match. The fixture marks the maturation of cricket in the Madras Presidency from informal play to organised inter-station competition.
Madras cricket had been documented since 1812. By the mid-1820s the Presidency had several stations with regular cricket — Madras itself, Trichinopoly, Bangalore. The December 1824 fixture was the first inter-station match for which a full scoresheet survives. Madras won by 32 runs. The Island Ground — on the Cooum river island near Fort St George — would become the dominant Madras venue.
Dec 1812
First documented cricket in Madras
4-5 Dec 1824
First Madras inter-garrison match
1846
Madras Cricket Club formally founded
The maturation of southern Indian cricket — from garrison sport to organised inter-station competition.
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1811-07-04
The 1811 Lord's season was the leanest of the Middle Ground years. With the Napoleonic blockade at its tightest, willow scarce, professionals diverted to militia service and the betting public's purses thin, only fourteen major matches were played at Lord's all summer. The 1811 season is the clearest measure of cricket's wartime contraction.
Officers vs Civilians
1812-12-15
By the close of 1812 cricket was being played regularly in both Madras and Bombay — the earliest documented fixtures in either Presidency. Garrison officers and civilian East India Company servants ran the matches; the Madras Gazette and Bombay Courier preserved the earliest scoresheets. The Calcutta game (documented 1804) had been joined by all three Presidency capitals.
Kent vs MCC
1813-09-09
On 9-10 September 1813 Kent played the MCC at the Vine, Sevenoaks — the first post-war major match at the historic Kent ground and the start of the Vine's revival as a regular major venue. The Vine had hosted little major cricket since 1808; the September 1813 fixture marked its return to the front rank.