It is a cricket club with a legacy. And that was evident when several yesteryear players, including those who migrated to Australia, turned up to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Marredpally Sporting Club (MP Sporting). There was clearly a reunion of hearts and rekindling of memories of a beautiful past when modern-day crass commercialism was not on the horizon.
MP Sporting came into existence in 1978, after the then Hyderabad Cricket Association (HCA) Secretary P.R. Man Singh granted affiliation to it. Interestingly, the players pooled in money in 1978 to pay the HCA affiliation registration fee of ₹ 250.
It immediately made an impact by winning the G-Division League and remained champions in the league for 11 consecutive years.
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The club may not have produced national-level players, but is known for its integrity and commitment with the biggest name from its stable being former Ranji pacer N.P. Singh.
“We take pride in the fact that we don’t charge any fee for coaching,” says Seshadri Venkateshwaran, secretary of the club since its inception and a former HCA joint-secretary. He had been spending money from his own pocket to run the club till a couple of years ago when HCA started providing development fund.
“I vividly remember those days when we didn’t even have proper pads. Once when I approached Mr. Jagan (Jagannathan of Hyderabad Hockey Association), he donated a few hockey pads which we modified into cricket pads to be given to players,” recalls Venkat, adding, “We are ever-grateful to the then MCH officials Jayakar Johnson, L. Venkatram Reddy and also V.M. Shamraj, N. Shivlal Yadav, D.S. Chalapathi, late M. Ranga Reddy and Mr Valentine Wilson for encouraging our club’s activities,” he added.
The game and the attitude of many players might have changed, but club officials and the players’ passion remains undiminished. So, when the likes of Mario Torphy and Noel Carr came from Australia for the reunion, it was reminder of their immense contribution to the club’s progress over the years.
On the occasion, Prasanna Kumar, who played for Andhra Pradesh in Ranji, Morris and Mario were felicitated. Players including Umakanth, Samuel, Vineet Shetty and Tript Singh also attended the celebrations.
