S’porean cricket coach Arjun Menon murdered in Malawi, cricket association mourns his death

Malawi Sports Council condemns ‘heartless’ murder of S’porean Arjun Menon

A Singaporean cricket coach has been murdered in the southeastern African country of Malawi.

According to a press statement posted on Facebook by the Malawi National Council of Sports (MNCS), Mr Arjun Menon, 48, was coach of its national cricket team.

Arjun Menon ‘brutally murdered’ at home on 10 May

In the statement, MNCS Chief Executive Officer Henry Kamata said Mr Menon was “brutally murdered” on Saturday (10 May) night at his residence.

He said MNCS was “deeply shocked and saddened” and strongly condemned this “heartless act of violence”.

He called on law enforcement to bring those responsible to justice and extended his “heartfelt condolences” to Mr Menon’s family, friends and the cricket community.

The deceased was a “dedicated coach” whose contributions were “immense and far-reaching”, Mr Kamata said, adding:

His loss is a devastating blow to the entire sporting fraternity in Malawi and beyond.

Arjun Menon was ‘attacked by thugs’

In a Facebook post on Sunday, Nation Publications Limited, which owns a newspaper in Malawi, said Mr Menon was “attacked by thugs” in Blantyre, a city in southern Malawi.

Under-19 Women Cricket National Team manager Bronwell Williams confirmed the news, but could not reveal any more details on his cause of death.

Mr Menon had been an instrumental figure in the recent success of Malawi’s cricket team, it said.

Recently, the sport won three accolades during the Malawi Sport Awards.

Arjun Menon ‘extremely proud’ that cricket won 3 awards

Mr Menon, in a Facebook post on 1 March, said the winning of the three awards was “an extremely proud moment” in his four years as Head of Cricket Operations at Cricket Malawi.

As football and netball are the most popular sports in Africa and Malawi respectively, he was filled with “a sense of great accomplishment and fulfilment” to have cricket in the forefront of the Malawi Sport Awards.

With six nominations, cricket had the most nominees from one sporting discipline at the awards, he noted.

He started loving cricket at Saint Patrick’s School

In a tribute posted on Facebook, the Singapore Cricket Association (SCA) mourned Mr Menon’s death, saying he was a “passionate ambassador for Singapore cricket”.

He first discovered his love for cricket at St Patrick’s School, where he went on to represent Singapore at youth level and made his senior debut against the United Arab Emirates in Malaysia.

In one of his last Facebook posts, Mr Menon shared with fondness a photo of himself on the Singapore Schoolboys Cricket tour to Perth in December 1993.

He played five senior matches for the national team, SCA said.

He led S’pore to a SEA Games gold medal

Mr Menon was an SCA coach from 2015 to 2019, serving in “key coaching and development roles” including Head Coach of the Singapore National Men’s Team, SCA said.

In 2017, he led Singapore to our first gold medal at the Southeast Asian Games. This was “a moment of national pride that marked a new era for Singapore cricket”, SCA added.

He became operations manager for Cricket Malawi in 2020 and later took on coaching duties. The next year, he led the Malawi national team at the 2021 International Cricket Council Men’s T20 World Cup Africa Sub-Regional Qualifier A.

Mr Menon didn’t just coach in Singapore and Malawi, but had an “immense” coaching legacy, also leading national teams in Chile, Botswana and Indonesia.

But SCA said he always remained deeply connected to his roots and love for Singapore, adding:

Even overseas, he remained a proud Singaporean, often crediting Singapore’s cricketing journey as the inspiration behind his global work.

He will be deeply missed by all who knew him, SCA noted, saying:

Arjun was more than a coach; he was a mentor, leader, and an embodiment of Singaporean values of excellence, humility, and service. His legacy lives on in the players he shaped and the communities he uplifted across continents.

Also read: ‘A juggernaut on the pitch’: S’porean rugby player dies after losing control of motorcycle in M’sia

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Featured image adapted from RM Selva on Facebook and Arjun Menon on Facebook.