Kerala Cricket Association is a member of Board of Control for Cricket in India. It is responsible for the development of Cricket in Kerala. The people of Kerala are always very fond of various kinds of sports, especially Cricket. Though very few players from Kerala have represented Indian Cricket Team in the international arena, their love for the game never diminished. The Kerala Cricket Association (KCA), at the moment, is bearing all the responsibilities for developing cricket in the state of Kerala. There have been many cricketing personalities from KCA who actually served the game at the national level and among them, the legendary Col. Goda Varma Raja, definitely stands out. He served the post of President for KCA from the years 1950 to 1963.
KCA has a logo which is similar to that of BCCI emblem. The basic concept of logo is similar to the Order of the Star of India, sans the image of star. A stylized image of Imperial Insignia of Sree Padmanabha`s Shankha, which was the emblem of Travancore Kingdom as well as state emblem of Kerala, is used instead of the star in the crest.
History of Kerala Cricket Association
Kerala has quite a rich history of playing the game of cricket as early as 18th century when Lord Arthur Wellesley introduced the game. According to the historians, Lord Arthur introduced the game for the British soldiers who were garrisoned in the Tellichery Fort and that was the beginning of playing cricket in Kerala.
The Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) was established mainly because of relentless efforts from the great sports personalities in Kerala, Mr. PM Krishnan and Mr. PM Raghavan with great support from Col. Goda Varma Raja. Col. GV Raja was known as the King of Sports in Kerala and he is still considered to be the patron Saint of all the Sporting activities in Kerala. The KCA selected the first ever Kerala based (the erstwhile Thiru-Kochi) Ranji Trophy Team, after its inception and the team was led by PM Raghavan. The team played against the Mysore team for the first time in the Ranji Trophy circuit and one of the greatest players from Kerala, PM Anandan claimed six wickets yielding 100 runs in 27 overs in the first innings of the match.
There have been contributions from a number of families in Kerala for the development of cricket in the state. The families include the likes of Edathil, Acharath, Moorkoth, Mampally and Pazhaya Parambath. The Mampally family was one of the leaders amongst them, as apart from a number of members from this family playing higher level Cricket, it also put a lot of efforts for the growth of Cricket in Kerala. The Acharath family also contributed to the game`s development in Kerala, by donating personalities like ACM Abdulla the farsighted administrator, Babu Acharath the elegant player and Coach and Mackey the sparkling all rounder and coach.
Famous Cricket Personalities of Kerala Cricket Association
The Kerala Cricket Association (KCA) has done a great job in improving and developing the game of cricket in the state. There have been a lot of cricket personalities from the KCA who served the game in the national level and among them, the legendary Col. Goda Varma Raja, is definitely the foremost. He was the President of Kerala Cricket association from the years 1950 to 1963 and he was also the first person from Kerala to become an Office bearer in BCCI, when he became the Vice president of BCCI. Apart from GV Raja, Mr. S Karunakaran Nair popularly known as SK Nair is another great cricket personality from Kerala Cricket Association. He served the BCCI as a treasurer during the period of 1993-97, as Finance committee Chairman during 1998-2002, and he was also the secretary of BCCI from 2003 to 2005. He served the Asian Cricket council as Treasurer and Secretary, as well. The late SV Pandit, who was the President of Travancore Cricket association till his death, helped the Kerala Cricket Association a lot by way of financial assistance.
Among the famous players that the Kerala Cricket Association has introduced to the Indian national cricket team so far, the name of Santakumaran Sreesanth is definitely one of the most important ones. He has made a lot of waves in the international cricket arena. However, the first Kerala player to represent India in the Test cricket was Tinu Yohannan, who played for the country with distinction. Apart from cricketers, the KCA has also contributed to present the country some of the other cricket related personalities like umpires, coaches, scorers, selectors and also video analysts. All the famous cricket playing grounds in Kerala like the University Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram and the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, in Kochi have already hosted international matches. Adv. T R Balakrishnan is the President of Kerala Cricket Association at the moment and Mr. T C Mathew is bearing the responsibilities of the Hon. Secretary.
Office bearers of Kerala Cricket Association
Adv. T R Balakrishnan is currently the President of the Association and Mr. T C Mathew is its Hon. Secretary and the representative to the BCCI.