Premier Sports and Social Club
Established in 1852, the Singapore Cricket Club is today a premier sports and social club in Asia. It is the second oldest sports club in Singapore, junior by 10 years to the Singapore Sporting Club, now the Singapore Turf Club.
The Club stands at the centre of the city's colonial heart, a public space that has witnessed many of Singapore's triumphs and defeats, upheavals, independence and, finally, the annual National Day Parades on 9 August.
Nearby historic buildings include Raffles Hotel, St Andrew's Cathedral, City Hall (on the steps of which the Japanese surrendered to the British in 1945), the Old Supreme Court (to re-open with City Hall as the National Art Gallery of Singapore in 2014), Old Parliament House (now the Arts House), Victoria Theatre and Memorial Hall, and Empress Place Building (formerly government offices and now the Asian Civilisations Museum).
Cricket was played on the Padang as early as 1837, only 18 years after Sir Stamford Raffles founded the settlement of Singapore in 1819, but it was not until 1852 that the first meetings were called to discuss the formal establishment of a cricket club.
There have been no fewer than three clubhouse buildings on the Padang, the first erected some time in the 1860s, the second in 1877. The third pavilion, which forms the core of the present clubhouse building, was built in 1884. It was extended in 1907, and the northern and southern wings that we see today were added in 1922.
Humble Beginnings
The Club’s beginnings were quite humble with the first 28 members in 1853 being mostly men working in the British businesses and mercantile community usually as clerks or junior assistants. In the 1880s, however, membership had grown to almost 400 and was seesn as a social feather in the cap not only by the businessmen who founded the Club but also by the power-brokers and decision-makers in government.
Presidents in the early days of the Club included several governors of the then Straits Settlements, such as Sir Cecil Clementi Smith, Sir Frank Athelstane Swettenham, Sir Arthur Henderson Young.
It was not all cricket on the Padang. Lawn Bowls began at the Club in the 1870s while an annula tennis tournament was initiated in 1875. Both Soccer and Rugby were established in the 1880s, and Hockey arrived in early 1892.
Membership had reached 878 by 1914. World War I affected Singapore sort badly, however (although the crown colony was not directly affected) and the supply of sporting manpower was sharply reduced.
Cricket suffered in particular and in 1922 the Club was not able to make up a full team to send to play in Hong Kong. Morale must have been improved by the visit in 1927 of Charles Gordon Macartney and his Australian Cricket XI, Macartney’s team, which included eight test cricketers, actually lost one match against Malaya.
Another major cricketing event occurred 10 years later in 1937, a three day match between Malaya and Sir Julien Cahn’s XI, the first English cricket team to visit Malaya.
On 15 February 1942, Singapore fell to the Japanese, and most Europeans who had not escaped were interned. The Club was closed for the duration of the war.
Even after Singapore was liberated, in 1945, it was clear that life in the crown colony would never be the same again. Elections in 1959 were won easily by Lee Kuan Yew's People's Action Party, which proceeded to form a strong majority government in a self- governing Singapore.
It was reported that the new government was considering taking back the Padang from its lessees, the Singapore Cricket Club and the Singapore Recreation Club. In the event this did not happen, but the government did insist, in 1962, that all clubs in Singapore maintain at least 50 per cent Singaporean membership.
Prime Minister Lee made his first official appearance at the Club in 1963, when his wife presented the Lee Kuan Yew Shield to the Club's ladies' hockey team. He returned in 1970 to accept the honorary title of "Visitor" to the Club.
Significant events
Between 1959 and the early 1970s, numerous cricket teams of Test or first class standard visited Singapore and graced the Padang. The most notable of these were:
- The Australian Test team to India and Pakistan in 1959.
- The MCC team to New Zealand in 1961.
- Ron Roberts’ Commonwealth XI in 1962.
- E.W. Swanton’s Commonwealth XI in 1964.
- Joe Lister’s International XI in 1968.
- The MCC XI on its East African and East Asian tour in 1970.
- The Indian and Pakistan Test teams returning from their tours of Australia in 1968 and 1972 respectively also visited Singapore. Unfortunately, their one-day fixtures were washed out.
Although the future of the Club looked grim during the 1960s, because of declining membership, financial difficulties and the possibility of government action, it survived (largely because of the sterling work of Club President Andrew Gilmour, after whom the Gilmour Room is named), and during the 1970s and 1980s it began to prosper once more.
Concern for the community became a hallmark of the Club during the 1980s, the most outstanding example of this being an SCC Extravaganza charity day in 1984, in which year Singapore celebrated 25 years of self-government. The event raised $285,000 for the Community Chest of Singapore.
Seven-a-side rugby teams had competed for the Ablitt Cup since as long ago as the 1940s, but it was not until the 1980s that the SCC Rugby Sevens was expanded to become a truly international competition.
The SCC Soccer Sevens has become an equally popular annual event, and in 1991 it was enhanced by the presence of British soccer stars Gordon Banks, Bobby Charlton, Roger Hunt, Geoff Hurst, Martin Peters (all members of the England team that won the 1966 World Cup), Mike England, Pat Jennings, Kevin
Keegan and Tony Woodcock.
The highlight of 1991 was the visit of Singapore President Wee Kim Wee on 6 December, and his acceptance of honorary membership of the Club.
Another event in 1991 of interest in the context of the Club's history was the discovery of the oldest sports trophy the Club has in its possession - a Challenge Cup presented to the Club by Vice-Admiral C.B. Hamilton and officers of the British ships visiting Singapore in 1887, in commemoration of the many games the British Navy had enjoyed on the Padang.
Anniversaries and the Future
In 1992, the Club celebrated its 140th anniversary and organised various functions to raise funds for charity as part of the celebrations. The most memorable event was the 140th anniversary party held on the Padang on 30 October, which was graced by President and Mrs Wee.
An SCC Hockey Sixes competition was inaugurated in 1992. In October 1993, the Singapore Cricket Association organised the first International Cricket Sixes tournament on the Padang, in which teams from 10 countries participated.
On 29 May 1996, the Club passed several landmark resolutions - to embark on a $60- million Clubhouse redevelopment that will involve building two storeys underground, create a new class of transferable membership and give women full membership for the first time in the history of the Club.
In November 1997, the Club started offering a new class of transferable membership.
In the late 1990s, the SCC International Rugby Sevens attained the status of a top international club tournament. In 1998, the New Zealand Rugby Sevens Commonwealth team featuring rugby legend Jonah Lomu visited the Club and played on the Padang. In the same year, Petone from New Zealand, featuring another Kiwi legend, Tana Umaga, won the Ablitt Cup at the Padang.
The status of the Club as a premium institution in Singapore was again underlined when Mr S.R. Nathan – a long-time member of the Club - was elected President of the Republic of Singapore in 1999. The millennium year saw a complete re-turfing and repair of the Padang field, including an improved drainage system. The year was also marked by the courtesy visit of His Royal Highness Prince Norodom Ranariddh from the Kingdom of Cambodia.
In 2002, the Club celebrated its 150th anniversary with a year of festive activities organised by the specially formed anniversary committee. Among the highlights of the anniversary year was a charity golf match attended by Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and Mrs Goh. The anniversary celebrations culminated with a gala dinner at the Padang on 5 October.
A week later, on 12 October 2002, a terrorist bomb in Bali tragically killed eight Club Members who were visiting the island to represent the Singapore Cricket Club in the annual Bali International Rugby 10s tournament.
On 1 December 2003, a year after the 150th anniversary, a Special General Meeting of Members approved the most extensive Club renovation since 1922.
Work was completed three years later, and on 2 February 2007 the Club held a dinner to celebrate the renovation. The guest of honour was Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, who accepted the title of "Visitor", making him the second recipient of that honorary title after Lee Kuan Yew in 1970.
Today, the Club boasts a total of some 5,678 active members, of whom 3,100 are voting members. There are currently 12 sports sections in the Club, the largest being Golf (551 members), Tennis (443) and Squash (361).
Copies of The Singapore Cricket Club by Ilsa Sharp, the official history of the Club, are on sale at the Member Services Desk .
