Ilsa Sharp

Cricket can boast a long history in Singapore and the Singapore Cricket Club is central to that history. Sadly, cricket is not the sport it once was in Singapore and this book helps to explain the demise of cricket in the small pink dot.

Cricket was the sport of the white man in colonial Singapore and the Singapore Cricket Club was a white-only institution for many years (although the author is at pains to prove that one nineteenth century member was Eurasian). The book also takes us through show more the war years (including WWI, when a match ended abruptly upon hearing that Britain was at war). The Singapore Cricket Club pavilion played a significant role in WWII Singapore as it became the headquarters for the Japanese military (and local SCC staff, knowing that Singapore had fallen, dug a hole in the SCC oval turf and buried trophies).

Post-war, the rise of Lee Kwan Yu gave SCC some troubles, especially as Lee saw cricket as "un-Singaporean". Fortunately, the Club was able to divert disaster by making Lee an official "Visitor" and has continued to exist.

There were certainly sections of "The Singapore Cricket Club" that could have been edited down without losing too much (unless you really want to know the intricate details of the committee debates around airconditioning). On the other hand, it was pleasing to see references to the great Lall Singh, Malaya's contribution to world cricket. show less

The edition I read is old but doesn't seem dated. Fun and fascinating. A visit is still on my bucket list, but this helped ease the crave a bit. I will look for more in the Culture Shock series.

Large format.