Migrant workers, particularly from South Asian countries, played social cricket free in Singapore and won recognition in a Guinness Book for World Records for a tournament at a single venue, a report said on Friday. GWR recognised the Singapore Social Cricket League (SCL) as the “largest cricket tournament played at a single venue” from July 13 to September 15 involving 102 teams, 286 matches, and 2,220 players.
, reported Friday weekly tabloid.
The tournament aimed to promote racial harmony, the integration of new immigrants and the bonding of different racial groups, said Shaji Philips, SCL organising committee chairman. “We also wanted to fulfil the interest of a large number of cricket enthusiasts residing in Sengkang (an urban housing estate), introduce a new sport to the local community and popularise cricket in the neighbourhood primary schools,” Philips said.
“Every record created has a different set of guidelines and for this Singapore record we required video recordings of all the matches and witnesses to attest that International Cricket Council rules were being followed,” said GWR’s official adjudicator Sonia Ushirogochi.
“We also verified the registration data of the players and the scorecards,” weekly tabloid Tabla! quoted Ushirogochi, who flew in from Tokyo to present the award to Philips.
“I looked through all the data that the organisers provided. I had asked for a lot more. And they worked really hard to provide me with the information, as I had to confirm that the league was up to the Guinness Book of World Records standard,” she said.
“It has to be standardised, something that is measurable and can be broken – because part of the fun is people challenging the records,” she said.
Guinness World Records are not awarded for uniqueness. The organisers footed all expenses for the tournament - 10-overs-a-side matches.
Charles Chong, a former deputy speaker of the Singapore Parliament and cricket supporter, said of the world record: “It’s a momentous occasion for Singapore. Never in our wildest imagination did we expect a small community initiative to extend to a world record.”
The Eenadu Cricket Champion Cup, held from December 30, 2013, to February 20, 2014, had 16,215 players but the matches were played in different venues across India.
Hemasundar Ramachandra, a founding member of the SCL, pointed out: “From 2013 onwards, we expanded our league and formed the Singapore Social Cricket League to give more players from across Singapore a chance to play.”
