At the present ICC Annual Conference in Birmingham, two Asian nations, Cambodia and Uzbekistan, as well as an African country, Cote D’Ivoire, were granted membership. The three new nations were granted membership on Tuesday (July 26) after meeting the ICC membership requirements under Clause 2.1, ‘Participation and domestic frameworks’ (d).
According to the Participation and Domestic Structures criteria, “having in place domestic participation structures that include national 50-over tournament structures that include at least three teams with List A status, and national 20-over tournament structures that include at least three teams with List A Twenty20 status”
Aside from that, the country should “have satisfactory junior pathway structures in place, a sustained and sufficient pool of players to support strong and consistent national level selection across the senior men’s, U19, and women’s teams; and have strong domestic participation levels in the sport and evidence of significant growth over the previous eight 8 years.”
The ICC currently has 108 members with the addition of three countries, including 12 Test-playing nations and 96 Associates. Cambodia and Uzbekistan bring the total number of Asian nations to 25, while Cote D’Ivoire becomes the 21st African country to gain membership.
The Cricket Federation of Uzbekistan (CFU) has been working on a women’s cricket competition with 15 teams, as well as providing a platform for U-17 and U-19 players. The Cricket Association of Cambodia (CAC) has also established a successful route for women’s cricket, and they are now planning a T20 cricket competition for the end of the year.
The Cote D’Ivoire cricket association has the greatest foundation of the three, as they conduct an eight-team national league senior men’s tournament. With the appointment of a female Board member to work on the projects, their engagement in the growth of women’s cricket has also gone to the next level.
