Swiss Cricket Association (SCA), renamed to Cricket Switzerland in 2014, is the premier governing body of the sport of cricket in Switzerland.
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History
The inaugural meeting was held on 9 March 1980 at the Australian Embassy in Berne, although, as the water colour of "Vue de la Ville de Genève et de Plein-Palais (Florence 1769-1845)" from 1817 by Giovanni Salucci shows, cricket has been played in Geneva since at least 1817.
Four clubs were represented at the original meeting: Bern C.C., CERN C.C., Geneva C.C. and Geneva Asians C.C., while apologies were received from Baden C.C., Basel C.C. and Zurich C.C. A draft constitution was agreed and subsequently ratified at the first annual General Meeting of the association. Today, the association has a membership of 19 clubs & 2 affiliated associations.
The first S.C.A. President was David Barmes of Geneva C.C. and Roger Johnson (of the same club) the first Secretary. Brennan, the then Australian Ambassador, presented a trophy to be played for in a knock-out competition between six clubs divided geographically into two sections. The winners of each group then played in a deciding final, for which, in 1983, the Malaysian Ambassador donated a cup for the Man of the Match. The main S.C.A. competition has been reorganised several times since and the current league format involves twelve clubs divided into East & West divisions. In recent years the Mr. Pickwick T20 Cup, a Twenty20 Competition, has been added to the fixture schedule.
In 1985, at the initiative of the Lyceum Alpinum, Zuoz, the SCA helped to organise the first Zuoz Cricket Festival. The Lyceum has a long tradition of cricket and other "British" sports (e.g. Eton Fives) dating from the 1920s when an English sports master was appointed. Four cricket matches can be played simultaneously on the grounds at Zuoz in an idyllic setting at an altitude of 1,700 metres (5,600 ft). Following a modest start (only four clubs participated in 1985), the festival is now well established with the regular participation of eight clubs.
A Swiss national side played in the inaugural Cricketer International Tournament in Guernsey in 1990, narrowly missing the semi-final by 0.1 runs/over. Tours have been made over the years to various countries by individual clubs and by the Association, and there have been welcome visits by touring teams to Switzerland.
In 1985 the association was granted affiliate status of the ICC. In 2012, Switzerland lost its ICC affiliate status due to the creation of a second organisation (Schweizerischer Cricket Verband) with nine memberclubs claiming to oversee cricket in Switzerland.
On 1 March 2014 the association was rebranded as Cricket Switzerland. The current President of the Cricket Switzerland is Alexander Mackay. Elected in 2011, he became the Association's sixth President, succeeding John McKillop.