International Cricket Council

The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the global governing body of the sport of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference on 15 June 1909 by the representatives of the Australian Cricket Board, England and Wales Cricket Board, and South African Cricket Association at Lord's. In 1965, the body was renamed as International Cricket Conference and its current name was adopted in 1987. The ICC has its headquarters in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

The membership of the council had steadily increased from the founding three members, to over a hundred members by the 21st century. The ICC has 110 member nations, 12 of whom are designated as full members and are eligible to play Test cricket, while the remaining 98 are classified as associate members.

The ICC is responsible for the organisation and governance of international cricket tournaments, most notably the Men's and Women's ODI World Cups, Men's and Women's T20 World Cups, World Test Championship, and Men's and Women's Champions Trophy. It also appoints the umpires and referees that officiate at all Test matches, ODIs and T20Is. It promulgates the ICC Code of Conduct, which sets professional standards of discipline for international cricket. It also co-ordinates action against corruption and match-fixing through its Anti-Corruption and Security Unit. The ICC does not control bilateral fixtures between member countries (except the World Test Championship final), and domestic cricket within its member countries. It does not make or alter the laws of the game, which have remained under the governance of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) since 1788.

The President served as the head of ICC since its inception, with the president of MCC usually serving as the president of ICC till 1989. In July 1989, the practice of the MCC president automatically serving as the president of the ICC was abolished, and Colin Cowdrey became the first independent president of the ICC. In 1993, the position of chief executive was created, and David Richards was the first to be appointed to the position. The position of the Chairman was created in 2014, and N. Srinivasan was announced as the first chairman of the council. The role of ICC president became a largely honorary position after the establishment of the chairman role, and was altogether abolished in April 2016. Shashank Manohar, who replaced Srinivasan in October 2015, became the first independent elected chairman of the ICC.

History

Imperial Cricket Conference (1909–1963)

On 30 November 1907, Abe Bailey, the president of the South African Cricket Association, wrote a letter to the Francis Lacey, the secretary of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in England, suggesting the formation of an Imperial Cricket Board. Bailey suggested that the board would be responsible for the formulation of rules and regulations for international cricket matches between Australia, England, and South Africa. He further offered to host a triangular Test series amongst the teams in South Africa. Though, the Australian Cricket Board rejected the initial terms, Bailey lobbied for the same during the Australia's tour of England in 1909.

On 15 June 1909, representatives from the Australian Cricket Board, England and Wales Cricket Board, and South African Cricket Association met at Lord's and founded the Imperial Cricket Conference. A month later, a second meeting between the three members was held. The rules were agreed upon amongst the nations, and the first-ever tri-Test series was decided to be held in England in 1912. In 1926, West Indies, New Zealand, and India were elected as full members, doubling the number of Test-playing nations to six. Pakistan was inducted in 1952, becoming the seventh Test-playing nation. In May 1961, South Africa left the British Commonwealth and therefore lost the membership.

International Cricket Conference (1964–1988)

In 1964, the name was changed to International Cricket Conference (ICC), and the ICC agreed to include non-Test playing countries as associate members. The Ceylon (who later became Sri Lanka), Fiji, and the United States were admitted as the first associate members. In 1968, Bermuda, Denmark, East Africa, and Netherlands were admitted as associates, while South Africa was still not part of the ICC. In 1969, the basic rules of the ICC were amended. At the ICC meeting in 1971, the idea of organizing a Cricket World Cup was floated, and in 1973, it was decided that the first World Cup would be played in 1975 in England. The six Test-playing nations– Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, and West Indies along with East Africa and Sri Lanka were invited to take part in the 1975 Cricket World Cup.

New associate members were subsequently added to the ICC in the 1970s, including Israel and Singapore in 1974, West Africa in 1976, Bangladesh in 1977, and Papua New Guinea in 1978. While South Africa applied to rejoin, its application was rejected. In 1981, Sri Lanka was promoted to a full member, and played its first Test in 1982. In 1984, a third class of membership was introduced, and Italy became the first affiliate member, followed by Switzerland in 1985. In 1987, the Bahamas and France were admitted, followed by Nepal in 1988.

International Cricket Council (1989–present)

In July 1989, the ICC was renamed as the International Cricket Council. The practice of the MCC president automatically serving as the president of the ICC was abolished, and Colin Cowdrey became the first independent president of the ICC. In 1990, the UAE joined as an associate member. In 1991, the ICC meeting was held in Melbourne, the first time it was held outside of England. South Africa was re-elected as a full member of the ICC in July, following the end of apartheid. In 1992, Zimbabwe was admitted as the ninth full member. Later, Namibia joined as an associate member, and Austria, Belgium, Brunei and Spain joined as affiliates. The third umpire, who was equipped with video playback facilities, was introduced in 1992.

In 1993, the position of chief executive was created, and David Richards of the Australian Cricket Board was appointed to the position. In July, Clyde Walcott was elected as the first non-British chairman. By 1995, television replays were made available for run-outs and stumpings in Test matches, with the third umpire required to signal out or not out with red and green lights respectively. The following year, cameras were used for the first time to determine if the ball had crossed the boundary. In 1997, decisions on the cleanness of catches could be referred to the third umpire, and the Duckworth-Lewis method, a way of adjusting targets in rain-affected ODI matches, was introduced.

In 2000, Bangladesh was admitted as the tenth full member. In 2005, the ICC moved its new headquarters to Dubai. In 2014, the position of chairman was created, who would heads the board of directors, thereby reducing the powers of the president. On 26 June, N. Srinivasan was announced as the first chairman of the council. However, following the tenure of Zaheer Abbas, the post of president was abolished in April 2016, and Shashank Manohar, who replaced Srinivasan in October 2015, became the first independent elected chairman of the ICC. With the role change, the Chief Executive Officer was to oversee sustenance of various cricket formats, promoting Olympic inclusion, and expanding global engagement.

In 2017, Afghanistan and Ireland were admitted as the eleventh and twelfth full members. The affiliate membership system was also abolished, with all existing affiliate members becoming associate members. In 2018, all Women's T20I matches between member teams were elevated to Women's Twenty20 International status. In 2019, all Men's T20I matches were elevated to International status. In July 2022, Cambodia, Cote D'Ivoire, and Uzbekistan were granted associate member status by the ICC.

Members

Regional affiliations

The ICC members are organised into five regions governed by respective regional bodies:

• Africa Cricket Association
• Asian Cricket Council
• ICC Americas
• ICC East Asia-Pacific
• ICC Europe

The East and Central Africa Cricket Conference and West Africa Cricket Council managed cricket in Africa, before their merge to form the Africa Cricket Association in 1997. The European Cricket Council managed cricket operations in Europe except the United Kingdom, before it was replaced by ICC Europe in 2008, and later dissolved in 2010.

Full members

The Full members include the 12 governing bodies of teams that have full voting rights within the ICC and play official Test matches.

Associate members

The associate members include 98 governing bodies in countries where cricket is firmly established and organized, but have not been granted full membership. Amongst these, eight associate teams have ODI status, and are part of the ICC Men's ODI Team Rankings.

Organisation and finance

Since its creation, the ICC had been headquartered at the Lord's. The ICC generates revenue through international cricketing events, and the ICC Development International (IDI) was established as a subsidiary in 1994, based out of Monaco, to manage the commercial rights. In the early 2000s, as the Government of United Kingdom refused tax concessions, the ICC planned to shift its headquarters out of London. In August 2005, the ICC moved its headquarters to Dubai, and subsequently closed its offices at London and Monaco. The ICC's move to Dubai also brought it closer to its main revenue generator in cricketing power in South Asia. The IDI was subsequently registered in the British Virgin Islands.

The ICC generates income from the tournaments it organises, including sponsorship and television rights. The ICC has no income streams from the bilateral international cricket matches, and the income is distributed to its share holders. Over the years, it has introduced new competitions such as ICC Champions Trophy, ICC Super Series, and ICC T20 World Cup to augment the revenue. In 2023, ICC reported a revenue of US$904.385 million.

Tournaments and winners

ICC tournaments

Qualifiers

The ICC organizes qualifying tournaments for various international main events.

A two-tier league system with promotion and relegation exists where best performing teams qualify for the Cricket World Cup Qualifier. It was a three tier system earlier with the Cricket World Cup Super League as the top-tier, which was scrapped for the 2027 World Cup qualifier.

Cricketing laws and regulations

The ICC oversees playing conditions, and other sporting regulations, but does not dictate and manage the Laws of Cricket. The laws are managed by the MCC in consultation with the ICC. The ICC maintains a set of playing conditions for international cricket and maintain a Code of Conduct to which teams and players in international matches are required to adhere. Breaches of the conditions and code result in penalties.

Umpires and referees

The ICC appoints international umpires and match referees who officiate at all international matches. The ICC operates three panels of umpires: the Elite Panel, the International Panel, and the Associates and Affiliates Panel.

Every cricket match has two on-field umpires and a third umpire. The on-field umpires ensure the playing terms, and make decisions related to the events on field. The third umpire uses TV replays and other technology to adjudicate decisions, if referred to by the umpires, or in certain cases independently or through player referrals. The Elite Panel of umpires was introduced in April 2002 and forms the top tier of match officials. The International Panel is made up of officials nominated from the various Test-playing nations. These members officiate in ODI matches in their home country, and may be appointed to assist the Elite Panel at times. They also undertake umpiring assignments in junior ICC events. The inaugural ICC Associate and Affiliate Panel was formed in June 2006. Members of the panel are appointed to ODIs involving ICC Associate Members, ICC Intercontinental Cup matches and other associate tournaments. Some of them may be involved for officiating in ICC events.

For any test match, the ICC appoints three umpires from the panel, who do not belong to the competing teams. For ODI matches, often two neutral umpires are joined with an umpire from the home team belonging to the Elite or International panel. For T20Is, any of the umpires can be appointed from the three panels. However, for ICC events, neutral umpires are appointed for all the formats. The composition of the various panels is revised annually in May, and the umpires, who are part of the panel are contracted to the ICC on a full-time basis. Women's matches often involve women officials. The ICC also undertakes training and development of the umpires. Umpires may occasionally officiate in first-class cricket in the country of their residence.

A match referee from the Elite Panel of ICC Referees is appointed to act as the independent representative of the ICC at all international matches. The role was introduced for the first time during India's tour of Australia in 1991-92. The referees are responsible for enforcing the playing conditions and adherence to the ICC Code of Conduct.

Rankings

Cricket rankings for ODIs were launched independently in 1998. The ICC acquired the same in January 2005 and started publishing it periodically. The Women's rankings were introduced in October 2008. Later, T20I rankings were launched in October 2011. The ICC publishes team rankings for all three formats of the game and updates the same periodically.

Men's

• ICC Men's Test Team Rankings
• ICC Men's ODI Team Rankings
• ICC Men's T20I Team Rankings
• ICC Men's Player Rankings

Women's

• ICC Women's ODI Team Rankings
• ICC Women's T20I Team Rankings
• ICC Women's Player Rankings

Awards and recognition

The ICC Development Awards were established in 2002 to celebrate the world-leading initiatives and innovative programmes delivered by ICC Members to grow the game around the globe. The ICC instituted the annual ICC Awards in 2004 to recognize and honor the best international cricket players of the previous 12 months. The inaugural ICC Awards ceremony was held on 7 September 2004, in London. In 2020, ICC announced a special one-off event, the ICC Awards of the Decade, to honour the best performers and performances in the previous 10 years.

The ICC Cricket Hall of Fame was launched by the ICC on 2 January 2009, in association with the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations, as part of the ICC's centenary celebrations. The initial inductees were the 55 players included in the FICA Hall of Fame which ran from 1999 to 2003, but further members are added each year during the annual ICC Awards ceremony.

Anti-corruption and security

Following betting incidents involving international players, the ICC set up an Anti-Corruption Unit (later renamed as Anti-Corruption and Security Unit) in 2000 under the retired Commissioner of London's Metropolitan Police, Paul Condon. As per Condon, match fixing had been prevalent in cricket since the 1980s. The ICC has often warned players against corruption and stated that the ICC would be vigilant and intolerant against it.

The first high profile case involved match fixing performed by several players of the South African cricket team, during their tour to India in 2000, which resulted in subsequent investigation and punishments handed out to Hansie Cronje, Herschelle Gibbs, and Henry Williams. Indian cricketers Mohammad Azharuddin and Ajay Jadeja, also received bans after being found guilty of match-fixing. Following a scandal that occurred during the Pakistan's tour of England in 2010, three Pakistani players, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif, and Salman Butt were found to be guilty of spot-fixing, and received bans and jail terms. In 2019, an investigation by Al Jazeera revealed various instances of match-fixing in several cricket playing nations.

Other ventures

The ICC Academy is located at Dubai Sports City, and opened in 2010. It includes various cricketing facilities, and practice pitches.

ICC Cricket 360° is a televised weekly show, which covers various aspects and events in the cricketing world.

Criticism

In 2015, Jarrod Kimber and Sam Collins made the documentary Death of a Gentleman based on the internal organisation of the ICC, which portrayed the richer member countries (specifically India, England and Australia) as "bullying" the ICC and running the organisation to the detriment of the other members.

See also

• Association of Cricket Officials
• List of presidents of the International Cricket Council
• World Cricketers' Association

Notes

External links

• The dictionary definition of International Cricket Council at Wiktionary
• Media related to International Cricket Council at Wikimedia Commons