The first recorded game of cricket in Singapore took place in 1837 on
a spot near where the Padang, the current home of cricket in
Singapore, is situated. Early games were usually played against the
crews of visiting ships and so it could be months or in some cases
years between matches in Singapore during the 1830's and early 1840's.
However, the mid to late 1840's saw a steady influx of expatriates
into the British colony and led to the founding of the Singapore
Cricket Club (SCC) in 1852. The SCC is one of the oldest existing
sporting clubs in the world and over the years has become an integral
part of Singapore life.
The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries witnessed an
explosion in the popularity of cricket in Singapore, thanks in part to
the success of tours like that of Lord Harris' M.C.C. side in 1883. By
the late 1880's cricket had clearly become the most popular sport in
Singapore as the Singapore Chinese and Eurasians flocked to take up
the willow against the Europeans. There were regular tours undertaken
by the SCC to China, Hong Kong, Batavia, Ceylon, Burma and Siam. It
is reported that the SCC usually won these matches, although they did
suffer a shock loss to the Burmese in 1906. In 1905, the first
official game between Singapore and Malaya took place and the matches
between the traditional rivals of Southeast Asia have continued to
raise passions between the two ever since.
Cricket reached its peak in Singapore on the eve of World War One and
since then a number of factors, including the Depression, World War II
and the removal of British troops after independence, have contributed
to ensure the decline in popularity of cricket in the lion city.
World War One saw many of Singapore's young cricketers take up arms
for Britain and leave Singapore, many never to return. Those that
didn't leave to fight still found themselves under fire when in 1915,
half way through a game on the Padang a European man ran onto the
field to tell the players that a mob of mutineering Indian soldiers
were killing every European they could lay their hands on. The game
was promptly abandoned as players dispersed to various hiding spots.
This was the infamous 1915 "Mutiny of the Indian-Muslim 5th Light
Infantry", where Indian troops stationed in Singapore mutineered after
hearing rumours they were going to be sent off to the front to be
cannon fodder.
Following the war, there was a brief upsurge in the popularity of
cricket thanks to the 1927 tour of Singapore and Malaya by an
Australian team which included a number of then current test players.
The tour brought life in Singapore to a halt to the extent that the
Straits Times suggested that a two day public holiday be declared for
the match. This was to be the last time that cricket would hold such
an interest for the people of Singapore. The Depression forced many
young expatriates to leave Singapore and return to their home lands
and WWII ensured that the only cricket played in Singapore was between
Indians and Eurasians and organised by Japanese officers hoping to
gain their favour. Following the war, cricket was dealt further blows
by leading nationalists who denounced cricket as a tool of British
imperialism and the removal of British troops following independence.
In the 1960's and 70's, the Singapore Government focussed on the
economy, to the detriment of sport and cricket in particular. Even
the small size of Singapore detrimentally affected cricket as any
space could have been used as ovals had housing estates or offices
built on them instead.
Over the past decade however, there has been a slow regrowth in the
popularity of cricket in Singapore, thanks in large part to the
coverage it has gained on Pay TV. Thanks to this increased coverage,
Singapore schools are beginning to adopt cricket as one of their
sports and finally cricket begins to regain some of the phenomonal
popularity it enjoyed around the turn of this century.