The MG Kailis group and the Sanmar group instituted the M G Kailis-Chemplast Trophy in 1988 to be awarded to the winner of an annual match to be played between the state cricket teams of Tamil Nadu and Western Australia. The brainchild of N Sankar and the late M G Kailis, the trophy was instituted with the hope that it would promote friendly relations between Western Australia and Tamil Nadu through cricket.
Appropriately, in the inaugural year, Tamil Nadu had won the Ranji Trophy for the national championship in India while Western Australia had annexed the Sheffield Shield, Australia’s national title. The Tamil Nadu team visited Perth, Western Australia in November 1988 for the first match for the trophy.Tamil Nadu fared badly, losing the four-day fixture and a couple of one-day games.
When the Western Australian team came to Chennai, then Madras, in September 1989, centuries by Chemplast players B Arun and Robin Singh helped Tamil Nadu pile up 503 runs but the match was drawn without an innings being completed. Thus retaining the trophy, Western Australia also won the one-day match.
M G Kailis (centre) and N Sankar (extreme right) seen with the trophy.
Regardless of the outcome of the matches, the tournament provided much needed exposure to young cricketers from Tamil Nadu who gained valuable experience of playing an international class side on both Indian and foreign soil. It was at the time hoped that the trophy would become a permanent fixture but unfortunately it was not to be.
The Bicentennial M G Kailis-Chemplast Trophy. Graeme Wood the Western Australia captain receiving the trophy from K S Narayanan in September 1989.