By Suranga Rajapakse & Tashiya Mirando

The Singapore Cricket Club (SCC) dates back to October 1852, when meetings were first called to discuss the establishment of a cricket club alongside The Padang (‘field’ in Malay), the open playing field on which cricket was played as early back as 1837. Two historic cricket matches were played later that month in 1852, ‘A picked Eleven’ vs ‘The Club’ (with only six on one side, and nine on the other), and a week later an eight-a-side match – ‘The Club’, victorious in both encounters, was off to a winning start! Whilst the first 28 members were mainly clerks or junior assistants in the British mercantile community, by the 1880s the club had grown in both number and stature – up to 400 members, with a number of governors of the then Straits Settlements also acting in the capacity of Club President. Today, the clubhouse (from 1884) is a landmark in the heart of Singapore’s civic centre and has evolved over the years to a multi-racial club with 13 sports sections – catering to the sporting (and social!) needs of the present-day community of Singapore.

Tennis at the club is recorded back to 1875 with the initiation of an annual tennis tournament. When ladies of the club decided to setup their own tennis courts, it is recorded that the gentlemen of SCC assisted them in establishing The Ladies Lawn Tennis Club in 1884. Local lawyers were particularly successful at tennis in SCC – RW Braddell and FM Elliot of were consistent winners in 1890s and LE Gaunt and DH Kleinmen in the 1920s – the latter presented the Kliny (assumed to be his nickname) Cup for tennis to the SCC in 1937, a trophy still played for today. In 1986, the SCC hosted the Davis Cup tie against Chinese Taipei, who beat the Singapore team 3-0 on that occasion. Fast forward to present day, the tennis section of the club boasts the most membership across all sports, and actively participates in both Men’s, Ladies and Junior inter-club competitions, with wins at the highest level in both singles and doubles. The section includes many of Singapore’s junior national players, who have gone on to represent the country at Billy Jean King Cup, Davis Cup, and the Southeast Asian Games.

Having recently joined The Centenary Tennis Association, the SCC aspires to be one of its most active members in the region. In its first year, the tennis committee is leading the charge to organise 3 CTC events – both hosting and touring clubs in the region to introduce ourselves and enjoy the camaraderie of the membership!