Singapore Cricket Club Cricket has been played on the Padang— the large green field in front of what is now the Singapore Cricket Club (SCC)— since 1837. The SCC, established in 1852, is the second- oldest club in Singapore, after the Singapore Turf Club. The first 28 members of SCC were men from the British business and mercantile community, mostly clerks or ‘junior assistants’. By the 1880s, membership had grown to almost 400 and was regarded as a social honour not only by businessmen but also high- ranking government officials.

Among the early SCC presidents were Sir Cecil Clementi Smith (1883); Sir Frank Swettenham (1902– 03) and Sir Arthur Young (1909– 10)— all governors of the Straits Settlements.

With legislation in 1963 leading to the liberalization of private club membership policies, some of the elitism wore off. However, SCC admitted women as full members only in 1996. In 2006, women were still excluded from the Men’s Bar.

Photo credit: Editions Didier Millet