The Shanghai Cricket Club is a

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

club based in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four Direct-administered municipalities of China, direct-administered municipalities of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

. The club dates back to 1858 when the first recorded cricket match was played between a team of British naval officers and a Shanghai XI. The original Shanghai Cricket Club ceased activities in 1948. Following a 45-year dormancy after the founding of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

in 1949, a new Shanghai Cricket Club (with a different Chinese name) was established in 1994 by expatriates living in the city and has since grown to over 300 members.

History

Before 1949

The first recorded cricket match in Shanghai was played somewhere in

Hongkou , formerly spelled Hongkew, is a district of Shanghai, forming part of the northern urban core. It has a land area of and a population of 852,476 as of 2010. It is the location of the Astor House Hotel, Broadway Mansions, Lu Xun Park, and ...

on April 22, 1858, between a team of officers from and a Shanghai XI in 1858. Since then cricket has had a home in Shanghai. In 1863, the first true cricket ground was bought by the Shanghai Recreation Fund from the Race Club. The ground was located inside the

Shanghai Race Club The Shanghai Race Club was a horse racing club located in Shanghai, China. The Club was based at the Shanghai Racecourse (), and the two names are often used interchangeably. Originally the Race Committee of the International Recreation Club, the R ...

racecourse, located in present-day

People's Square People's Square is a large public square in the Huangpu District of Shanghai. It is south of Nanjing Road (West) and north of Huaihai Road (East). People's Square is the site of Shanghai's municipal government headquarters building and th ...

and People's Park on the corner of

Nanjing Road Nanjing Road (; Shanghainese: ''Noecin Lu'') is a road in Shanghai, the eastern part of which is the main shopping district of Shanghai. It is one of the world's busiest shopping streets, along with Fifth Avenue, Oxford Street, Orchard Road, T ...

and Jiangxi Road.

Interport matches Interport matches refer to a series of cricket matches which took place in Asia from 1866 to 1987, between Ceylon, the Federated Malay States, Hong Kong, Malaya, Malaysia, Shanghai, Singapore and the Straits Settlements. In February 2020, the ...

with the

Hong Kong Cricket Club The Hong Kong Cricket Club () is situated in the heart of Hong Kong Island surrounded by the hills and greenery of Wong Nai Chung Gap. History At a public meeting held in Hong Kong in June 1851, a proposal that a club with a turfed playing f ...

and the

Singapore Cricket Club The Singapore Cricket Club (SCC) is one of the premier sports and social clubs in Singapore. Its clubhouse is located on Connaught Drive on the south end of the Padang in Singapore's central business district. History The SCC was esta ...

began in 1866 as a series of home-and-away fixtures which continued up until 1948, just prior to the

PLA PLA may refer to: Organizations Politics and military * People's Liberation Army, the armed forces of China and of the ruling Chinese Communist Party * People's Liberation Army (disambiguation) ** Irish National Liberation Army, formerly called t ...

takeover of Shanghai. It was after the conclusion of one of these series that the Hong Kong team, returning from Shanghai was struck by tragedy as the , the ship that was transporting them back to Hong Kong, sank on October 10, 1892, off the coast of Formosa. Of the 13 Hong Kong cricketers on board, only two survived. The clubs continued to play Interport matches and today, the winner of a series is given the Bokhara Bell Memorial Trophy.

Reincarnation

The Shanghai Cricket Club was reestablished in 1994, under the same English name as the original club but a different Chinese name. In 2004, an inter-club league was established by the four SCC member clubs: Bashers CC, DPR Hot Dogs, Maharajas (now Daredevils) and Pudong CC. The club hosted the Shanghai International Sixes from 1997 through 2009. During this time, a women's side (currently defunct) also existed called the Pearls. The club has two representative teams, the Dragons and the Pirates. Drawn from the best cricket players in the city, the Dragons regularly tour throughout Asia and host international teams in Shanghai. The Dragons have also participated in most of the major tournaments on the Asian Cricket Sixes Tour, winning in Hong Kong, Manila and Phuket. The Pirates were created in 2005 for the

Hong Kong Cricket Sixes Festival The Hong Kong Cricket Sixes is a Six-a-side international cricket tournament held at the Kowloon Cricket Club comprising between eight and twelve teams. Organised by Cricket Hong Kong, it is sanctioned by the International Cricket Council. The ...

, and are composed of representatives of all seven member clubs and associate teams in Shanghai. They regularly join the Dragons on tours throughout Asia, focusing heavily on social activities and touring. The Shanghai Cricket Club plays regular matches with the

Kowloon Cricket Club The Kowloon Cricket Club, also called KCC (), is a members only cricket club and social club situated in Kowloon, Hong Kong, on Cox's Road. History The Cricket Club was established on 4 October 1904 and was provided land from the government in ...

, Lamma Cricket Club, and the Beijing Cricket Club. In addition, the club plays semi-regular fixtures against Centaurs Cricket Club,

, and Kai Tak Cricket Club and has hosted many international touring sides including

Marylebone Cricket Club Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) is a cricket club founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influe ...

. The Shanghai Cricket Club was also the first club to play organized cricket in

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...

, competing for the Pyongyang Friendship Trophy in 2008. The SCC currently plays at grounds in

Waigaoqiao Shanghai Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone (), was the first Free Trade Zone to be established in China. It is situated in the North East of Pudong District, near the end of Metro Line 6. It was incorporated as part of the newly developed China (Shanghai) ...

Pudong Pudong is a district of Shanghai located east of the Huangpu, the river which flows through central Shanghai. The name ''Pudong'' was originally applied to the Huangpu's east bank, directly across from the west bank or Puxi, the historic city ...

, and at Wellington College International.

SCC League

League Structure

The Shanghai Cricket Club runs a three division league. The league is made up of the four foundation clubs (Bashers CC, Daredevils CC, DPR Hot Dogs, Pudong CC) as well as four associate teams: K2 CCC, China Zalmi CC, Dulwich Knights and Charminar Cheetahs CC. League matches are played on Sundays from April through September and feature limited overs cricket. Division 1: 40 overs; Division 2: 30 overs; Division 3: 25 overs.

Clubs and Associate Teams

*Bashers Cricket Club *Daredevils Cricket Club *DPR Hot Dogs Cricket Club *Pudong Cricket Club *Dulwich Knights (International School Associate Club) *K2 China Cricket Club *China Zalmi Cricket Club (Formerly Leopards CC)

References

{{Reflist

External links

Shanghai Cricket Club website

Bashers Cricket Club website

Daredevils Cricket Club website

DPR Hot Dogs website

Pudong Cricket Club website
Chinese club cricket teams Sports teams in Shanghai