Singapore national cricket team explained

Singapore
Captain:Aritra Dutta
Coach:Salman Butt
Association:Singapore Cricket Association
Icc Status:Associate member
Icc Member Year:1974
Icc Region:Asia
T20i Rank:37th
T20i Rank Best:19th (20 Oct 2019)
Wcq Apps:6
Wcq First:1979
Wcq Best:14th (1997)
First T20i:v at Indian Association Ground, Singapore; 22 July 2019
Most Recent T20i:v at Terdthai Cricket Ground, Bangkok; 11 February 2024
Num T20is:48
Num T20is This Year:5
T20i Record:17/30 (1 tie, 0 no results)
T20i Record This Year:3/2 (0 ties, 0 no results)
Wt20q Apps:3
Wt20q First:2019
Wt20q Best:8th (2022)
T Pattern La:_pink_stripes
T Pattern B:_singapore_t20i
T Pattern Ra:_pink_stripes
T Leftarm:EF3340
T Body:EF3340
T Rightarm:EF3340
T Pants:000000
Asofdate:23 June 2024

The Singapore national cricket team is the team that represents Singapore in international cricket. Singapore has been an associate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) since 1974, and was a founding member of the Asian Cricket Council formed in 1983.[1]

The Singapore Cricket Club was established in 1837 during the colonial period. Singapore played regular fixtures against other British colonies in Asia beginning in the late 19th century, notably participating in the interport matches. It later contributed players to combined teams representing the Straits Settlements and Malaya. After gaining ICC membership, Singapore played in six out of the first seven editions of the ICC Trophy, beginning in 1979. Post-independence, its greatest rivalry is with neighbouring Malaysia, in the annual Stan Nagaiah Trophy. Singapore reached as high as Division Three of the World Cricket League. The team made its Twenty20 International debut in 2019, following the granting of that status to associate members of the ICC, and in the same year participated in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier for the first time.

History

Beginnings of cricket in Singapore

The first recorded mention of cricket in Singapore was in 1837 when a "Mr Z" complained, in a letter to the Singapore Free Press, of cricket being played near a church on a Sunday in violation of the Christian Sabbath. This resulted in cricket being banned on Sundays, a prohibition that remained in place until the 1930s.[2]

Cricket was an important recreational activity, with matches often played against the officers of visiting ships. The Singapore Cricket Club was formed in 1852 and played its first match amongst themselves the same year. The quality of cricket in these early years was quite poor, and it wasn't until 1865 before a team total of more than 100 was scored. Louis Glass became the first person in Singapore to record a century two years later.[3]

The Singapore Cricket Club eventually began to play against teams from other parts of British Malaya such as Penang, Perak and Kuala Lumpur and this eventually led to an invitation from Hong Kong to send a team there, which saw the beginning of the long-running series of "Interport matches".

Straits Settlements cricket team

See main article: Straits Settlements cricket team.

The 1890 invitation from Hong Kong led to the formation of the Straits Settlements cricket team, and they played Hong Kong in two two-day matches, both of which were lost. The series was the beginning of the "Interport Matches", which continued until 1987. Hong Kong and Ceylon came to Singapore the following year, and the Straits Settlements won both matches, also drawing against a combined Ceylon/Hong Kong team.

The Straits Settlements team beat Ceylon in Colombo in 1893,[4] and played a match in Jakarta in 1895. Matches against the Federated Malay States began in 1896, and against Shanghai in 1897.

They played Burma in 1906, and their involvement in the Interport Matches ceased in 1909, when they were replaced by an All Malaya team. The Straits Settlements visited Bangkok in 1910, though from them their only matches came annually against the Federated Malay States until 1940. These fixtures continue in the modern era as the Saudara Cup matches between Singapore and Malaysia.

Singapore team

First matches

The Singapore team did play twice during the Straits Settlements team era, playing twice against WAS Oldfield's XI in 1927, losing both matches by an innings.[5] [6] They next played in 1957, drawing at home to Ceylon.[7] Various teams visited Singapore in the 1960s, including Worcestershire.

The Interport Matches resumed in 1968 with Singapore drawing against Hong Kong. These matches were played occasionally until 1987. In 1970, the Saudara Cup match against Malaysia was played for the first time, this continues annually to the present day. Also that year, Singapore played an MCC side captain by Tony Lewis and featuring Geoff Boycott. The match was won by the MCC.

ICC membership

Singapore became an associate member of the ICC in 1974 and three years later won the Saudara Cup for the first time. In 1978, Singapore played India at home, the match ending in a draw. Singapore took part in the first ICC Trophy in England in 1979 but could only finish fourth in their first round group after only beating Argentina.[8] They finished fourth out of eight teams in their first round group in the 1982 tournament and withdrew from the 1986 tournament when several of their players couldn't get leave from work.

Singapore played in the South East Asian Tournament for the first time in 1984, playing in the event again in 1988 and 1992 (when they hosted), though they never reached the final as Bangladesh and Hong Kong finished first and second on each occasion. The final Interport Match took place in Singapore in 1987, with Hong Kong beating the home side. They returned to the ICC Trophy for the 1990 tournament in the Netherlands, beating Malaysia and Israel during the event, and failing to progress past the first round.[9]

Singapore began playing in the Tuanku Ja'afar Cup in 1991, an annual tournament against Malaysia, Hong Kong and Thailand. They won the event just once, in 1994, a year in which they finished 19th out of 20 teams in the ICC Trophy. The Stan Nagaiah Trophy, an annual three match series of one-day matches against Malaysia, began the following year. Singapore played in the first ACC Trophy in 1996, beating the Maldives and Thailand but failing to go past the first round.[10] They finished 14th in the 1997 ICC Trophy and could only beat Papua New Guinea in the 1998 ACC Trophy, again failing to go past the first round.[11]

21st century

2000 - 2017

The first two major tournaments of the 21st century for Singapore got them off to a bad start as they lost all their first round matches in both the 2000 ACC Trophy in the UAE and the 2001 ICC Trophy in Ontario, their final ICC Trophy to date. They hosted the ACC Trophy in 2002, beating the Maldives and Thailand (by 325 runs) but again failing to progress beyond the first round, a performance they repeated in 2004. The finished fourth in the ACC Fast Track Countries Tournament in 2004 and 2005.

Singapore began to show an improvement in their form in 2006. That year they finished third in the ACC Premier League and finally passed the first round stage in the ACC Trophy, finishing fifth to qualify for Division Five of the World Cricket League in 2008. They didn't progress beyond the first round of the 2007 ACC Twenty20 Cup, beating only Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia, but captain Chaminda Ruwan did make the highest score of the tournament. In the World Cricket League Division Five tournament in Jersey, Singapore finished fifth after beating Botswana in a play-off,[12] though they did beat Afghanistan during the first round,[13] who went on to win the tournament.[14]

In August 2009, Singapore hosted and won Division Six of the World Cricket League, going through the tournament undefeated and winning promotion back to Division Five.[15] In November 2009, Singapore travelled to the UAE for the 2009 ACC Twenty20 Cup.[16] During the tournament Singapore finished third in Group A, therefore failing to progress to the semi-finals and a chance to qualify for the 2010 Asian Games. In the fifth place playoff Singapore lost to Nepal by 9 wickets to finish to tournament in sixth place.

In the 2010 ICC World Cricket League Division Five, they finished fourth to remain in Division Five. Hosting the 2012 tournament, they ran out winners, moving them up to Division Four and keeping their hopes of World Cup qualification alive. Singapore has decided to dedicate their strengths in to their SEA GAMES team, where Mohammad Yusof Bin Aslam (Captain) has chosen not to participate due to conflict of interest.

In August 2017, Singapore won two medals in cricket at the 2017 Southeast Asian Games. They won the gold medal in the 20-over tournament and the silver medal in the 50-over tournament. On 26 April 2018, ICC released in a press conference that all the men's T20 matches will get T20I status starting from 1 January 2019.[17]

2018-Present

In April 2018, the ICC decided to grant full Twenty20 International (T20I) status to all its members. Therefore, all Twenty20 matches played between Singapore and other ICC members after 1 January 2019 have the full T20I status.[18]

Singapore played their first T20I against Qatar on 22 July 2019.[19] On 28 July 2019, after their victory against Nepal in the regional finals of the 2018–19 ICC T20 World Cup Asia Qualifier; Singapore qualified for the ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier for the first time.

After April 2019, Singapore will play in the 2019–21 ICC Cricket World Cup Challenge League.[20]

In September 2019, Singapore beat Zimbabwe by four runs in the third T20I match of the 2019–20 Singapore Tri-Nation Series.[21] It was the first time that Singapore had beaten a Full Member team in an international cricket match.[22]

Grounds


Tournament history

World Cricket League

5th place

Champions

4th place

Champions

3rd place

2nd place

3rd place

3rd place

3rd place (Relegated)

ICC Cricket World Cup Challenge League

2nd place (League A)

ICC World Cup Qualifier

First round

First round

Withdrew

First round

19th place

14th place

First round

Did not qualify[23]

Did not qualify[24]

Did not qualify

Did not qualify

ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier

Did not qualify

Did not qualify

Did not qualify

Did not qualify

11th place

8th place

ACC Fast Track Countries Tournament

4th place

4th place

3rd place

ACC Trophy

5th place

5th place

9th place

ACC Premier League

Winner

ACC Twenty20 Cup

First round

6th place

Did not participate

9th place

4th place

Asian Games

Withdrew

Did not participate

ACC Men's Challenger Cup

3rd place

ACC Eastern Region T20

Asia Cup Qualifier

6th place

Qualified

Southeast Asian Games

Bronze medal

Records and statistics

International Match Summary — Singapore[25] Last updated 11 February 2024

Playing Record
Format M W L T NR Inaugural Match
Twenty20 Internationals 48 17 30 1 0 22 July 2019

Twenty20 International

Most T20I runs for Singapore[29]

PlayerRunsAverageCareer span
968 24.82 2019–2024
744 24.80 2019–2023
563 20.10 2019–2023
558 46.50 2019–2020
509 24.23 2019–2024

Most T20I wickets for Singapore[30]

PlayerWicketsAverageCareer span
44 27.09 2019–2023
40 21.07 2019–2023
29 27.00 2019–2022
22 21.54 2019–2023
18 37.00 2019–2022

T20I record versus other nations[25]

Records complete to T20I #2460. Last updated 11 February 2024.

Opponent M W L T NR First match First win
Test nations
3 1 2 0 0 29 September 2019 29 September 2019
Associate Members
2 0 1 1 0 16 December 2022
1 1 0 0 0 20 October 2019 20 October 2019
2 0 2 0 0 4 May 2023
3 1 2 0 0 4 March 2020 4 March 2020
1 1 0 0 0 11 May 2023 11 May 2023
2 2 0 0 0 6 February 2024 6 February 2024
2 0 2 0 0 14 July 2022
1 0 1 0 0 23 October 2019
1 0 1 0 0 24 August 2022
9 3 6 0 0 26 July 2019 26 July 2019
1 1 0 0 0 2 February 2024 2 February 2024
1 0 1 0 0 26 October 2019
3 1 2 0 0 28 July 2019 28 July 2019
1 0 1 0 0 22 October 2019
1 0 1 0 0 31 October 2023
3 1 2 0 0 25 October 2019 2 July 2022
1 1 0 0 0 3 May 2023 3 May 2023
4 1 3 0 0 22 July 2019 22 July 2019
1 1 0 0 0 18 October 2019 18 October 2019
3 2 1 0 0 29 February 2020 29 February 2020
1 0 1 0 0 22 August 2022
1 0 1 0 0 12 July 2022

Other records and statistics

Twenty20 Matches

Statistics from Singapore players in World Cricket League matches and ACC Events since 2008

Highest scores

Best Bowling figures

ICC Trophy

Overall

Current squad

This lists all the active players who have played for the Singapore in the past 12 months and the forms in which they have played, or any players who have been selected in the team's most recent One-day or T20I squad. Players uncapped for the Singapore national team are listed in italics. Key

NameAgeBatting styleBowling styleFormsLast One-dayLast Twenty20Notes
Batsmen
Right-handed One-day & T20I 2023 2024
Right-handed One-day & T20I 2023 2024 Captain
Right-handed One-day & T20I 2023 2024
Right-handed T20I 2022 2024 Vice-captain
Amartya Kaul Right-handed One-day & T20I 2022 2024
Abdul Rahman Right-handed One-day 2023 2023
Prasheen Param Right-handed One-day 2023 2017
All-rounders
Right-handed One-day & T20I 2023 2023 Also wicket-keeper
Right-handed One-day & T20I 2022 2023
Left-handed One-day & T20I 2023 2024
Right-handed T20I 2022 2024
Ishaan Swaney Left-handed T20I 2022 2024
Thilipan Omaidurai Right-handed One-day 2023
Raoul Sharma Right-handed T20I 2024
Vinit Mehta Right-handed One-day
Wicket-keepers
Left-handed T20I 2022 2024
Sidhant Srikanth Right-handed One-day 2023 2022
Aryan Modi Right-handed One-day 2023 2022
Spin bowlers
Right-handed One-day & T20I 2023 2024
Left-handed One-day & T20I 2023 2022
Harsha Bharadwaj Right-handed T20I 2024
Pace bowlers
Right-handed One-day & T20I 2022 2022
Right-handed One-day & T20I 2022 2023
Ramesh Kalimuthu Right-handed One-day & T20I 2023 2024
Adwitya Bhargava Right-handed One-day 2023 2023
Sachin Banamali Right-handed T20I 2024

Updated as on 11 February 2024

Coaching staff

PositionName
Team manager
Head coach
Assistant coach Alexander John
Spin bowling coach Alec Laeis
Fast bowling coach
Fielding coach Anton Van der Dussen
Physiotherapist
Physical performance manager
Trainer Hary Bruce
Analyst (ODI/T20) Harry Tiffin
Analyst (Test)

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Countries/26.html Singapore
  2. Encyclopedia of World Cricket by Roy Morgan, SportsBooks Publishing, 2007
  3. http://www.cricketeurope4.net/CRICKETEUROPE/GENERAL/TIMELINES/singapore.shtml Timeline of Singapore Cricket
  4. http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Scorecards/150/150153.html Scorecard
  5. http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Scorecards/135/135734.html Scorecard
  6. http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Scorecards/135/135735.html Scorecard
  7. http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Scorecards/137/137528.html Scorecard
  8. Web site: ICC TROPHY, 1979: ENGLAND. cricinfo.com.
  9. http://uk.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/WORLD_CUPS/ICCT90/ 1990 ICC Trophy
  10. http://www.cricketeurope4.net/CRICKETEUROPE/DATABASE/1996/TOURNAMENTS/ACCTROPHY/about.shtml 1996 ACC Trophy
  11. http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Seasons/NEP/1998-99_NEP_Pepsi_Asian_Cricket_Council_Trophy_1998-99.html 1998 ACC Trophy
  12. http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Scorecards/169/169959.html Scorecard
  13. http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Scorecards/169/169942.html Scorecard
  14. http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Scorecards/169/169957.html Scorecard
  15. Web site: Cricinfo, Accessed 25 September 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090816084717/http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/series/418156.html. live. 2009-08-16.
  16. Web site: Asian Cricket Council, Assessed 25 September 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090204110736/http://asiancricket.org/cnt_09_2020.cfm. dead. 2009-02-04.
  17. Web site: All T20 matches between ICC members to get international status. www.icc-cricket.com. en. 2019-07-22.
  18. Web site: All T20 matches between ICC members to get international status. International Cricket Council. 26 April 2018. 1 September 2018.
  19. Web site: 1st Match, ICC Men's T20 World Cup Asia Region Final at Singapore, Jul 22 2019 - Singapore vs Qatar, ICC Men's T20 World Cup Asia Region Final 2019, 1st Match Match Live Score, Summary ESPNcricinfo.com. ESPNcricinfo. en. 2019-07-22.
  20. Web site: All to play for in last ever World Cricket League tournament . International Cricket Council . 11 April 2019.
  21. Web site: Singapore fight back to secure historic five-run win over Zimbabwe . International Cricket Council . 29 September 2019.
  22. Web site: Singapore create history by clinching T20I victory against Zimbabwe . ESPN Cricinfo . 29 September 2019.
  23. Web site: 2005 ICC Trophy Official Website . 23 July 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20061202144314/http://www.cricketeurope4.net/ICCT2005/home.shtml . 2 December 2006 . live .
  24. http://www.cricketeurope4.net/CRICKETEUROPE/DATABASE/TOURNAMENTS/GLOBAL/WCL/structure0609.pdf World Cricket League Structure 2006–2009
  25. Web site: Records / Singapore / Twenty20 Internationals / Result summary . . 23 December 2022.
  26. Web site: Records / Singapore / Twenty20 Internationals / Highest totals . . 30 September 2019.
  27. Web site: Records / Singapore / Twenty20 Internationals / High scores . . 11 February 2024.
  28. Web site: Records / Singapore / Twenty20 Internationals / Best bowling figures . . 30 September 2019.
  29. Web site: Records / Singapore / Twenty20 Internationals / Most runs. Cricinfo.
  30. Web site: Records / Singapore / Twenty20 Internationals / Most wickets. Cricinfo.
  31. http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Records/Singapore/Icct/Highest_Player_Scores_Singapore.html Individual scored of 75 and more in an innings for Singapore in the ICC Trophy
  32. http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Records/Singapore/Icct/Best_Innings_Bowling_Singapore.html Five or more wickets in an innings for Singapore in the ICC Trophy
  33. http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Scorecards/101/101522.html Scorecard
  34. http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Scorecards/122/122571.html Scorecard