International Cricket Council


The International Cricket Council is the global governing body of the sport cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by Australian, English, and South African representatives. In 1965, the body was renamed International Cricket Conference and its current name was adopted in 1987. The ICC has its headquarters in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The ICC currently has 110 member nations: 12 full members that play the Test format, and 98 associate members. Timor-Leste Cricket Federation is the latest addition to the associate members list, as of 2025. The ICC is responsible for the organisation and governance of cricket's international tournaments, most notably the Men's ODI World Cup, Women's ODI World Cup, Men's T20 World Cup, Women's T20 World Cup, World Test Championship, Men's Champions Trophy and Women's Champions Trophy. It also appoints the umpires and referees that officiate at all sanctioned Test matches, ODIs and T20Is. It promulgates the ICC Code of Conduct, which sets professional standards of discipline for international cricket. The ICC 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, which include all Test matches outside of the World Test Championship final. It also does not govern domestic cricket within member countries. It does not make or alter the laws of the game, which have remained under the governance of Marylebone Cricket Club since 1788.
The Chairman heads the board of directors, and on 26 June 2014 Narayanaswami Srinivasan, the former president of Board of Control for Cricket in India, 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 other changes made to the ICC constitution in 2014. It has been claimed that the 2014 changes have handed control to the 'Big Three' nations of England, India and Australia. The last ICC president was Zaheer Abbas, who was appointed in June 2015 following the resignation of Mustafa Kamal in April 2015. When the post of ICC president was abolished in April 2016, Shashank Manohar, who replaced Srinivasan in October 2015, became the first independent elected chairman of the ICC. Sanjog Gupta became the seventh CEO of the International Cricket Council on July 7, 2025, succeeding Jay Shah. His role involves managing T20 league growth, sustaining cricket formats, promoting Olympic inclusion, and expanding global engagement.

History

1909–1963 – Imperial Cricket Conference

On 30 November 1907, Abe Bailey, the President of the South African Cricket Association, wrote a letter to the Marylebone Cricket Club's secretary, Francis Lacey. Bailey suggested the formation of an 'Imperial Cricket Board'. In the letter, he suggested that the board would be responsible for the formulation of rules and regulations that would govern the bilateral international matches of the three members, Australia, England and South Africa. Bailey wanted to host a Triangular Test series among the participant countries in South Africa. However, Australia rejected the offer. Still, Bailey did not lose hope. He saw an opportunity of getting the three members together during Australia's tour of England in 1909. After continued lobbying and efforts, Bailey was successful.
On 15 June 1909, representatives from England, Australia and South Africa 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. After the formation of Pakistan in 1947, it was given Test status five years later in 1952, becoming the seventh Test-playing nation. In May 1961, South Africa left the British Commonwealth and therefore lost membership.

1964–1988 – International Cricket Conference

In 1964, the ICC agreed to include non-Test playing countries. The following year, the ICC changed its name to the International Cricket Conference. The US, Ceylon and Fiji were admitted as Associates, a new class of members. In 1968, Denmark, Bermuda, Netherlands, and East Africa were admitted as Associates, while South Africa had still not applied to rejoin the ICC.
In 1969, the basic rules of ICC were amended. At the 1971 meeting, the idea of organizing a World Cup was introduced. At the 1973 meeting, it was decided that a World Cup would be played in 1975 in England. The six Test-playing nations and East Africa and Sri Lanka were invited to take part.
New members were added frequently during this period: Israel and Singapore in 1974, West Africa in 1976, Bangladesh in 1977, Papua-New Guinea in 1978, were admitted as Associates. South Africa applied to rejoin, but their application was rejected.
In 1981, Sri Lanka was promoted to a Full Member, and they played their first Test in 1982.
In 1984, a third class of membership was introduced. Italy was the first such member, followed by Switzerland in 1985. In 1987, the Bahamas and France were admitted, followed by Nepal in 1988.

1989–present – International Cricket Council

At the July 1989 meeting, the ICC renamed itself as the International Cricket Council, and the tradition of the MCC President automatically becoming the Chairman of ICC was abolished.
In 1990, UAE joined as an Associate.
In 1991, for the first time in ICC history, the meeting was held away from England, in Melbourne, Australia. 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. Namibia joined as an Associate member. Austria, Belgium, Brunei and Spain all joined as Affiliates.
In 1993, the position of Chief Executive of ICC was created; David Richards of the Australian Cricket Board was the first person appointed to the position. In July, Sir Clyde Walcott, from Barbados, was elected as the first non-British Chairman. The emergence of new technology saw the introduction of a third umpire who was equipped with video playback facilities. By 1995, TV 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, the cameras were used to determine if the ball had crossed the boundary. In 1997 decisions on the cleanness of catches could be referred to the third umpire. This year also saw the introduction of the Duckworth-Lewis method, a way of adjusting targets in rain-affected ODI matches.
In 2000, Bangladesh was admitted as the tenth Full Member of the International Cricket Council.
In 2005, ICC moved its new headquarters to Dubai.
In 2017, Afghanistan and Ireland were admitted as the eleventh and twelfth Full Members of the International Cricket Council after a unanimous vote at the ICC Full Council meeting at The Oval. Affiliate Membership was also abolished, with all existing Affiliate Members becoming Associate Members.
In 2018, all Women's T20 matches were elevated to Women's Twenty20 International status. In 2019, all Men's T20 matches were elevated to Twenty20 International status.
In July 2022, Cambodia, Cote D'Ivoire, and Uzbekistan were granted associate member status by the ICC.

Members

Full members – The 12 governing bodies of teams that have full voting rights within the International Cricket Council and play official Test matches.
NoCountryTeamsGoverning bodyFull member sinceTest status sinceRegion
1Men • Women • U19M • U19WEngland and Wales Cricket Board15 June 190915 March 1877Europe
2Men • Women • U19M • U19WCricket Australia15 June 190915 March 1877East Asia-Pacific
3Men • Women • U19M • U19WCricket South Africa15 June 190912 March 1889Africa
4Men • Women • U19M • U19WCricket West Indies31 May 192623 June 1928Americas
5Men • Women • U19M • U19WNew Zealand Cricket31 May 192610 January 1930East Asia-Pacific
6Men • Women • U19M • U19WBoard of Control for Cricket in India31 May 192625 June 1932Asia
7Men • Women • U19M • U19WPakistan Cricket Board28 July 195216 October 1952Asia
8Men • Women • U19M • U19WSri Lanka Cricket21 July 198121 July 1981Asia
9Men • Women • U19M • U19WZimbabwe Cricket6 July 199218 October 1992Africa
10Men • Women • U19M • U19WBangladesh Cricket Board26 June 200010 November 2000Asia
11Men • Women • U19M • U19WCricket Ireland22 June 201711 May 2018Europe
12Men • Women • U19MAfghanistan Cricket Board22 June 201714 June 2018Asia

Associate members - The 98 governing bodies in countries where cricket is firmly established and organized, but have not been granted full membership, are called associate members.
Currently, eight associate teams have temporary men's ODI status until 2027. These teams are one tier above the rest of the associate teams.
NoCountryGoverning bodyAssociate member sinceODI status sinceRegion
1Royal Dutch Cricket Association19662018Europe
2Cricket Canada19682023Americas
3Emirates Cricket Board19902014Asia
4Cricket Namibia19922019Africa
5Cricket Scotland19942005Europe
6Cricket Association of Nepal19962018Asia
7Oman Cricket20142019Asia
8USA Cricket20192019Americas

The details of all 98 associate teams are presented in the table below:
NoCountryTeamsGovernmentAffiliate membershipAssociate membershipRegion
1Men • Women • Argentine Cricket AssociationN/AAmericas
2Men • Women • U19Austrian Cricket Association1992Europe
3Men • Women • Bahamas Cricket Association1987Americas
4Men • Women • Bahrain Cricket Association2001Asia
5Men • Women • Belgian Cricket Federation1991Europe
6Men • Women • Belize National Cricket Association1997Americas
7Men • Women • U19Bermuda Cricket BoardN/AAmericas
8Men • Women • Bhutan Cricket Council Board2001Asia
9Men • Women • Botswana Cricket Association2001Africa
10Men • Women • U19Brazilian Cricket Confederation2002Americas
11Men • Women • U19Bulgarian Cricket Federation2008Europe
12Men • Women • U19Cricket Association of CambodiaN/AAsia
13Men • Women • U19Cameroon Cricket Federation2007Africa
14Men • Women • U19Cricket CanadaN/AAmericas
15Men • Women • Cayman Islands Cricket Association1997Americas
16Men • Women • Chilean Cricket Association2002Americas
17Men • Women • Chinese Cricket Association2004Asia
18Men • Women • U19Cook Islands Cricket Association2000East Asia-Pacific
19Men • Women • U19Costa Rica Cricket Federation2002Americas
20Men • Women • U19Croatian Cricket Federation2001Europe
21Men • Women • U19Cyprus Cricket Association1999Europe
22Men • Women • U19Czech Cricket Union2000Europe
23Men • Women • U19Danish Cricket FederationN/AEurope
24Men • Women • U19Estonian Cricket Association2008Europe
25Men • Women • Eswatini Cricket Association2007Africa
26Men • Women • U19Falkland Cricket Association2007Americas
27Men • Women • U19Cricket FijiN/AEast Asia-Pacific
28Men • Women • U19Cricket Finland2000Europe
29Men • Women • France Cricket Association1987Europe
30Men • Women • Gambia Cricket Association2002Africa
31Men • Women • German Cricket Federation1991Europe
32Men • Women • Ghana Cricket Association2002Africa
33Men • Women • U19Gibraltar Cricket AssociationN/AEurope
34Men • Women • U19Hellenic Cricket Federation1995Europe
35Men • Women • Guernsey Cricket Board2005Europe
36Men • Women • U19Cricket Hong KongN/AAsia
37Men • Women • U19Hungarian Cricket Association2012Europe
38Men • Women • Cricket Indonesia2001Asia/East Asia-Pacific
39Men • Women • Islamic Republic of Iran Cricket Association2003Asia
40Men • Women • Isle of Man Cricket Association2004Europe
41Men • Women • Israel Cricket AssociationN/AEurope
42Men • Women • Italian Cricket Federation1984Europe
43Men • Women • U19Côte d'Ivoire Cricket FederationN/AAfrica
44Men • Women • U19Japan Cricket Association1989Asia/East Asia-Pacific
45Men • Women • Jersey Cricket Board2005Europe
46Men • Women • U19Cricket KenyaN/AAfrica
47Men • Women • U19Cricket Kuwait1998Asia
48Men • Women • U19Lesotho Cricket Association2001Africa
49Men • Women • Luxembourg Cricket Federation1998Europe
50Men • Women • Cricket Malawi1998Africa
51Men • Women • U19Malaysian Cricket AssociationN/AAsia
52Men • Women • Cricket Board of Maldives1998Asia
53Men • Women • U19Malian Cricket Federation2005Africa
54Men • Women • U19Malta Cricket Association1998Europe
55Men • Women • U19Mexico Cricket Association2004Americas
56Men • Women • U19Mongolia Cricket AssociationN/AAsia
57Men • Women • Mozambican Cricket Association2003Africa
58Men • Women • Myanmar Cricket Federation2006Asia
59Men • Women • U19Cricket NamibiaN/AAfrica
60Men • Women • U19Cricket Association of Nepal1988Asia
61Men • Women • U19Royal Dutch Cricket AssociationN/AEurope
62Men • Women • U19Nigeria Cricket FederationN/AAfrica
63Men • Women • Norwegian Cricket Board2000Europe
64Men • Women • Oman Cricket2000Asia
65Men • Women • U19Panama Cricket Association2002Americas
66Men • Women • U19Cricket PNGN/AEast Asia-Pacific
67Men • Women • U19Peru Cricket Association2007Americas
68Men • Women • U19Philippine Cricket Association2000East Asia-Pacific
69Men • Women • U19Portuguese Cricket Federation1996Europe
70Men • Women • Qatar Cricket Association1999Asia
71Men • Women • U19Cricket Romania2013Europe
72Men • Women • Rwanda Cricket Association2003Africa
73Men • Women • U19St Helena Cricket Association2001Africa
74Men • Women • Samoa International Cricket Association2000East Asia-Pacific
75Men • Women • Saudi Arabian Cricket Federation2003Asia
76Men • Women • U19Cricket ScotlandN/AEurope
77Men • Women • U19Serbian Cricket Federation2015Europe
78Men • Women • U19Seychelles Cricket Association2010Africa
79Men • Women • Sierra Leone Cricket Association2002Africa
80Men • Women • Singapore Cricket AssociationN/AAsia
81Men • Women • U19Slovenian Cricket Association2005Europe
82Men • Women • U19Korea Cricket Association2001East Asia-Pacific
83Men • Women • Cricket Spain1992Europe
84Men • Women • U19Suriname Cricket Board2002Americas
85Men • Women • Swedish Cricket Federation1997Europe
86Men • Women • U19Cricket Switzerland19852021Europe
87Men • Women • U19Tajikistan Cricket FederationN/AAsia
88Men • Women • Tanzania Cricket AssociationN/AAfrica
89Men • Women • Cricket Association of Thailand1995Asia
90Men • Women • Timor Leste Cricket BoardN/AEast Asia-Pacific
91Men • Women • U19Cricket Turkey2008Europe
92Men • Women • U19Turks and Caicos Cricket Association2002Americas
93Men • Women • U19Uganda Cricket AssociationN/AAfrica
94Men • Women • U19Emirates Cricket Board1989Asia
95Men • Women • U19USA CricketN/A
Americas
96Men • Women • U19Cricket Federation of UzbekistanN/AAsia
97Men • Women • Vanuatu Cricket Association1995East Asia-Pacific
98Men • Women • Zambia Cricket UnionN/AAfrica