List of International Cricket Council members

Current ICC members by membership status:
  Full members
  Associate members with ODI status
  Associate members
  Expelled members
  Non-members

The International Cricket Council (ICC) was founded at Lord's on 15 June 1909 as the Imperial Cricket Conference,[1] with Australia, England, and South Africa as its founding members.

In the beginning, only countries within the Commonwealth could join.[2] India, New Zealand and the West Indies joined in 1926, and Pakistan joined in 1953 after the partition of India.[3] In 1961, South Africa resigned from the Conference due to their leaving the Commonwealth,[2] but they continued to play Test cricket until their international exile in 1970.[4]

The Imperial Cricket Conference was renamed the International Cricket Conference in 1965, with new rules permitting countries from outside the Commonwealth to be elected into the governing body for the first time: Fiji and the USA became the first associate member nations that year.[2]

In 1981, Sri Lanka became the first associate member to be elected a full member, returning the number of Test-playing nations to seven. In 1989, the ICC was again renamed, this time to the International Cricket Council.[2] South Africa was re-elected as a full member of the ICC in 1991, with Zimbabwe elected in 1992,[3] and Bangladesh elected in 2000.[3]

On 22 June 2017, Ireland and Afghanistan were granted full member (and Test) status, bringing the number of full members to 12.[5]

As of November 2023, there are 108 ICC members, with 12 full members and 96 associate members, 8 of which have ODI status. [6]

The membership committee will consider all future requests for membership – full and associate – against an objective set of criteria. There was previously a third level, affiliate membership, which was abolished in June 2017, with all existing affiliate members becoming associate members,[7] and introducing a two-tier hierarchy (full members and associate members): any new member elected to the ICC would be an associate member, with the possibility of promotion to full member status based on ongoing performance in international competition.

From July to October 2019, the ICC suspended Zimbabwe Cricket due to government interference, the first time this had occurred with a full member side.[8][9][10] From November 2023 to January 2024, the ICC suspended Sri Lanka Cricket due to government interference in the board. [11]

  1. ^ "Role of the ICC – International Cricket Council". Retrieved 14 May 2008.
  2. ^ a b c d Williamson, Martin (18 May 2007). "International Cricket Council: A brief history..." ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 12 March 2017.
  3. ^ a b c "International Cricket Council (ICC)". Liveindia.com. Retrieved 14 May 2008.
  4. ^ "South Africa are isolated". Cricinfo. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  5. ^ "Ireland & Afghanistan awarded Test status by International Cricket Council". BBC Sport. 22 June 2017. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
  6. ^ "ICC welcomes Mongolia, Tajikstan, and Switzerland as new Members". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
  7. ^ "Ireland and Afghanistan ICC newest full members amid wide-ranging governance reform". International Cricket Council. 22 June 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  8. ^ "ICC board and full council concludes in London". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  9. ^ "Zimbabwe suspended by ICC over 'government interference'". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  10. ^ "Zimbabwe and Nepal readmitted as ICC members". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  11. ^ "ICC suspends Sri Lanka Cricket with immediate effect". www.icc-cricket.com. Retrieved 10 November 2023.