Tamil Nadu Cricket Association
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| Founded: | 1932 |
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| Home ground: | M. A. Chidambaram Stadium |
| Official website: | TNCA |
The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) is the governing body of Cricket activities in the Tamil Nadu state of India and the Tamil Nadu cricket team. It is affiliated to the Board of Control for Cricket in India. Narayanaswami Srinivasan is the president of the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association. The TNCA is one of the permanent test centres of the BCCI[1]
History
Organized league cricket in the State began in Madras in 1932.The Indian Cricket Federation staged what is now acknowledged as the first cricket league in India when it conducted a competition for the clubs of Madras in 1932.The ICF and Madras Cricket Club often assumed adversarial positions and even conducted important matches independently on the same days, creating confusion and chaos among the armatures who wanted nothing more than a day’s entertainment. In time, however, good sense prevailed and the two rival bodies joined hands to form the Madras Cricket Association. (The romance of Tamil Nadu cricket-V.Ramanarayanan 2006)
The Madras Cricket Association was formally constituted on April 30, 1935.The Association was shortly thereafter affiliated to the Board of Control for Cricket in India. The Cricket Association was to control representative Cricket in the Province.
Division Leagues
The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association promotes and develops Cricket by conducting various League Tournaments,Tournaments for the age group Under-13, Under-15, Under-17, and Under-19, Under-22 and Under-25 categories besides organising and conducting National Tournaments. The Association conducts League Championship for City affiliated Clubs and 726 league matches are played a year from First division to Fifth division. A zone consisting of 12 teams each figure in the first and second divisions, whereas third,fourth and fifth division consists of two, three and four zones respectively. The city league format is one of the best in the country especially in first division where league matches are played on a three day duration as per the Ranji Trophy guidelines.
Home Ground
M A Chidambaram Stadium or Chepauk Stadium is a cricket stadium in Chennai, India. The stadium was established in 1916 and it is the oldest continuously used cricket stadium in the country. Named after M A Chidambaram, former President of BCCI, the stadium was formerly known as Madras Cricket Club Ground. It is the home ground of the Tamil Nadu cricket team and the Indian Premier League team Chennai Super Kings.The stadium is located at Chepauk, a few hundred meters from Marina beach along the Bay of Bengal.
In June 2009, reconstruction work of the stadium was taken up at the cost of ₹175 crore (US$26 million).[4][5] The plan consisted of constructing three new reinforced concrete stands designated I, J, and K accommodating 10,000 spectators and 24 hospitality boxes under translucent PTFE membrane roofs.[6] Hopkins Architects, London and Nataraj & Venkat Architects, Chennai were contracted by the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association.[3]
The renovation was completed in 2011 and the old roofing with pillars that often blocked the view in the old stadium were replaced by light quad conical roofing held together by cables. The stadium can currently accommodate 38,000 spectators which will be expanded to 42,000. The stands are at a gradient of 36° and lets the sea breeze in to get the ground's traditional swing back.[7]
Premier League
TNCA inaugurated Tamil Nadu Premier League in August, 2016. The consist of 8 teams.The inaugural edition of the TNPL will feature eight teams, playing a total of 31 matches (28 league matches, two Semi-finals and the final). Chennai, Dindigul (Natham) and Tirunelveli are the venues. Chennai will host the opening match as well as the semis and the final. Chepauk Super Gillies,Lyca Kovai Kings,Dindigul Dragons,Ruby Kanchi Warriors,Karaikudi Kaalai,Madurai Super Giants,TUTI Patriots,VB Thiruvallur Veerans are the 8 teams participating in the TNPL.In the final of the tournament played on September 18,2016 Albert Tuti Patriots won beating Chepauk Super Gillies by 122 runs in a pretty much one sided contest.