The earliest evidence of the game of cricket is from a drawing depicting two men playing with a bat and ball dated 1250 A.D. The game was played in Guild-ford, Surrey (England) at least as early as 1550. The earliest major match was between a team representing England which scored 40 and 70 runs in the two innings and Kent which won the match by one wicket having scored 53 and 58 runs for nine wickets at the Artillery ground in fins bury, London on June 18,1744.

A game similar to cricket but with a different name may have been in existence in India much before the arrival of the English people. But cricket as It is played today is a legacy of the British in India. There is no record to show the exact date of the introduction of this game on the Indian soil but it is an established fact that a cricket match between a Military XI and the Island of Bombay was played as far back as 1797.

Ajmer was the only British area in the province of Rajputana which consisted of a number of princely states. It was the seat of the Agent to the Governor General who besides governing the small province of Ajmer-Merwara kept a watchful eye on the activities of the Indian states. For the education of the princes and chiefs, Mayo College was established in 1875 and Ajmer also became an important junction of the B.B. & C.I. Railway with its offices and workshops Loco and Carriage. The Principal and senior members of the staff of Mayo College were Englishmen and the education imparted was on British pattern. Great emphasis was laid on games and sports. Cricket became the most popular game in this educational institution under the watchful eye of the English staff.

The important posts in the Railways were held be Englishmen and so was the post of the Principal, Govt. College. In such favorable circumstances the English game blossomed and was firmly established in this historic city. One of the easiest ways to come in contact with Englishmen was through this game. No wonder some intelligent and dashing persons started a cricket club known as the Ajmer Gymkhana in 1887.

The first cricket match on the soil of Rajputana was played in 1887 between Mayo College and Govt. College at Ajmer which incidentally resulted in a tie. The former collected 72 and 58 runs in the two ventures to which the Govt. College replied with 79 and 51 runs.

In 1887 a change in the old type under-arm bowling was made and three of the Mayo College boys, viz. Jai Singh of Bamolia, Abhai Singh of Mangal and Bhawani Singh of Fatehpur started practicing over-arm bowling for the first time in Rajputana.

Col. Abbott, the then Political Agent at Jhalawar was a very keen cricketer and under his patronage a team was formed at Jhalawar. At its invitation Mayo College played a cricket match at Jhalawar in January, 1889 and in a low scoring match recorded a victory by 48 runs. This was the first match in Rajputana between two teams of two different towns.

In February, 1890 H. R. H. Prince Albert Victor visited Ajmer and a grand function was arranged at Kaiser Bagh where now Victoria Hospital and Savitri Girls College are located. The chief attraction of the function was a cricket match between Mayo College and Ajmer Gymkhana. The former batting first declared their innings closed at 224 runs for five wickets to which the Gymkhana replied with 44 runs for four wickets.

The first team from outside to play in this province was the Railway team from Bombay known as the Blue Castle XI which visited Ajmer in 1890-91 and played a match against Mayo College. The home team collected 87 and 82 runs in the two innings. The visitors who had scored 127 runs in the first knock were in great trouble in the second and when stumps were finally drawn they were struggling at 31 for 7 wickets.

At the invitation of His Highness the Maharana of Udaipur, the Mayo College team played a cricket match at Udaipur against an Udaipur XI in October, 1891. The home team scored 31 and 39 runs in the two innings to which the visitors replied with 92 runs. For Mayo College, H. H. The Maharao of Kota had the distinction of capturing all the ten wickets of Udaipur in the first innings. This is the first instance of a bowler to have captured all the ten wickets in an innings on the soil of Rajputana.

The Jaipur Cricket Club, formed in 1873 could claim the honor of being one of the oldest cricket clubs in India. No records are available of its early activities. It enjoyed the patronage of H. H. the late Maharaja Sawai Ram Singhji. The Mayo College team visited Jaipur in 1891 and played a match against this club which was the first match played here between teams of two different towns. At the invitation of H. H. the Maharaja of Jaipur a Parsi team from Bombay visited Jaipur in December, 1891 when the first match against a team from a different province was played in the pink city.

The British army officers at Nasirabad formed their own team and in March, 1892 played a match against Mayo College at Ajmer. The visitors scored 122 runs to which Mayo College replied with 116 runs. Another cricket club of the Railways known as the Carriage and Wagon Recreation Club was formed at Ajmer in 1893. Annual cricket fixtures between Mayo College and Rajkumar College, Rajkot began in 1894.

The most important centre of cricket in Rajputana was Mayo College, Ajmer and the credit for organizing the first cricket tournament in this state goes to this institution though it was confined to its different houses. To commemorate the services of Mr. P. J. Portman who did useful work as a teacher and as a cricketer at Mayo College, its students donated a silver trophy known as the "Portman Cup" and the Inter-House tournament commenced in 1904.

Apji Govind Singh of Koela, Kota who was known as "Mayo College Jessop" for his hurricane hitting could claim the honor of being the first batsman to reach the coveted three-figure mark on the Rajputana soil. On September 10, 1904 playing for Mayo College against Nasirabad Officers' XI on his home ground he played a brilliant unbeaten knock of 142 runs. The hundred came in only 43 minutes and for his unbeaten knock his entire stay at the wicket was for only eighty minutes.

Thakur Dan Singh of Lathi recorded the first double century in Rajputana. The occasion was the annual fixture between Mayo College and Aitchison College, Lahore played at Ajmer in 1905-06. Mayo College declared the first innings closed at 415 for the loss of one wicket. The second wicket unfinished partnership produced 334 runs. Thakur Dan Singh remained unbeaten with 203 runs and Chander Sen of Kunadi, Kota remained not out with 125 runs. H. H. Maharaja Bhupender Singhji of Patiala played for the visiting team having been dismissed for a duck in the first innings and was not out with 19 runs. in the second knock.

Himself a cricketer and polo player H. H. Maharaja Sardar Singhji of Jodhpur had his own cricket team which included some fine cricketers of Rajp-utana and Kathiawar. The Jodhpur-Jamnagar combined team played a cricket match at Calcutta against the famous Cooch Behar XI. The immortal Ranji led the Jodhpur-Jamnagar team.

H. H. Maharaja of Bikaner built a very spacious and beautiful pavilion at the Mayo College Central Cricket ground in 1905. H. H. Maharaja Bhawani Singhji of Jhalawar donated a silver shield of the cost of Rs.5000/-and a tournament after the name of Sir Elliot Colvin, the then Agent to the Governor General of Rajputana commenced from 1911-12. This tournament is still the premier cricket tournament of the state and has helped many a cricketer to show his prowess with the willow and the leather.

For some years cricket became the religion of Alwar. H. H. IVaharaja Jey Singhji revived the Maharaja Cricket Club and himself skippered this team. He built a beautiful pavilion in the Mangal Vihar Garden and the wonderful green ground was a delight for all cricketers. Outside teams were invited and cricket became a craze with the people. That distinguished English cricketer Frank Tarrent was a member of the Alwer team which in 1915 took a tour to Bombay. It recorded victory in all the eight matches that it played. A mighty hitter H. H. Alwar had a peculiar way of changing bats while batting. He numbered his own bats from number one to ten. Number one bat was of usual weight. As the number increased the weight of the bat also increased. The number ten was the heaviest of the lot and when the Maharaja wanted to lift the ball he would use this bat. Has any other cricketer carried ten bats on the ground for one match? There would be few cricketers in the world today who make use of ten bats even in a season.

To commemorate the great patronage of H. H. Alwar, the Rajputana Cricket Club presented a beautiful silver trophy and an All-India cricket tournament commenced at Ajmer in 1924. Unfortunately in the early thirties it was discontinued.

Maharaj Kumar Vijaya Anand, populary known as Vizzy, who led the Indian cricket team in England in 1936 and who was the President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India in 1954-55 and 1955-56 was a student of Mayo College, Ajmer. His interesting description of a late Maharaja of Kashmir playing cricket at Ajmer is worth quoting: "A late Maharaja of Kashmir was a great patron of sports and used to have a Kashmir XI before Word War I. As he was one of the big donors of the Princes College (Mayo College), Ajmer, a holiday was declared when he visited it and a one day cricket match was arranged. All the students were asked to attend it. The Maharaja was a diminutive little man— very short, almost a dwarf. He wore a collossal Kashmir 'pugri' (turban)—the 'pugri' looked bigger than himself and the Principal, an old conservative English gentleman invited Ranji for the function.

Whenever the Ajmer college played the Kashmir XI strict orders were given that when the Maharaja came to bat, the bowler had to bowl away from the stumps, change his entire speed; if slow much slower, if fast as slow as possible, and the Maharaja would touch the ball with bat and the fielders instead of fielding it wooing kick it to each other and it would result in a couple of runs and similarly if the ball passed the fielder he would kick it to the boundary line.

When he returned to the pavilion Ranji would have tea with him and the Maharaja would ask Ranji in Hindi, "Apne kabhi anda banaya." (Did you ever score a duck?) The modest Ranji would promptly say, "Bahut dafa (many times)."The Maharaja would promptly say, "Maine to kabhi nahi banaya (I never scored one.)" The whole table clapped. The pleased Maharaja would give the Principal 'Hukam', "Give the boys another day's 'chutti' (holiday)."

During this period some of the Rajputana players were really talented and gifted They were capable of measuring their strength of the willow and the leather with the best in the country. Yet for want of adequate opportunities they could not rise to the All India level. It could certainly be said for them.

"Many a flower is born to blush unseen
And waste its sweetness on the desert air.

...by Late Shri L.N. Mathur