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]
Full members
Full members are the governing bodies for cricket in a country or a group of associated countries representing a geographical area.
All full members have a right to send a representative team to play official Test matches, have full voting rights at meetings of the ICC, and are automatically qualified to play ODIs and T20Is.[2] The West Indies cricket team is a combined team representing 15 countries and territories from the Caribbean, while the English cricket team represents both England and Wales and the Irish cricket team represents all of the island of Ireland.
Of these 12 nations, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Ireland played as associate members before being elected as full members.
In April 2021, ICC granted permanent Women's Test status to all the full member nations.[12]
Later in 2021, the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan and promptly banned women from sport; consequently, there have been calls to suspend Afghanistan's ICC membership.[13] In 2023, Australia withdrew from a one-day series against Afghanistan to protest the Taliban's oppression of women in the country.[14] The same year, Human Rights Watch called for Afghanistan's suspension.[15] The Women's team, which was dissolved in 2021, has since written to the ICC requesting the formation of a refugee team based in Australia.[16]
Associate members are countries where cricket is firmly established and organised, but which do not qualify for full membership.[2] There are 96 associate members.[17]
In April 2018, the ICC announced T20I status for all its members from 1 July 2018 for the women's game, and from 1 January 2019 for the men's game.[21]
†Denotes members that are currently suspended by the ICC.
^Switzerland were admitted in 1985, but were expelled in 2012,[95][96] before being readmitted in July 2021.[68]
^The USA were admitted as an associate member in 1965 under the governance of the United States of America Cricket Association, which was expelled in September 2017. USA Cricket was admitted in January 2019.
Netherlands ensured they would regain ODI status after the completion of the 2018 World Cup Qualifier, by winning the 2015–2017 World Cricket League. The next three highest placed associates in the qualifier (UAE, Scotland and Nepal) also gained ODI status. In June 2018, Scotland and UAE were added to the main ODI rankings list, with Nepal joining them in January 2019.[107] Netherlands were also added afterwards after playing enough games to gain a ranking.
In April 2021, ICC granted permanent Women's One Day International status to all the full-member teams.[108] On 25 May 2022, five Associate teams were granted Women's ODI status by the International Cricket Council.[109]
In April 2018, the ICC announced T20I status for all members from 1 January 2019. Therefore, all Twenty20 matches played between ICC members since 1 January 2019 have been eligible for full T20I status.[110][21]
Former members
Expelled members
There are six countries who were associate and/or affiliate members of the International Cricket Council, but were expelled from the ICC:
There were two combined teams who were associate members of the International Cricket Council, but were subsequently dissolved.
East Africa (a combined team representing Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Zambia): admitted as an associate member in 1966, the team played at the inaugural Cricket World Cup in 1975, with Kenya becoming an associate member in its own right in 1981.
In 1989, East Africa was succeeded by a combined team from East and Central Africa (representing Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia and Malawi), which remained an associate member, with Uganda and Tanzania becoming associate members in their own right in 1998 and 2001. In 2003, the ICC, Zambia and Malawi mutually agreed to dissolve the team, with Zambia becoming an associate member (expelled in 2021) and Malawi becoming an affiliate member (associate member from 2017).
West Africa (representing Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone): admitted as an associate member in 1976. In 2003, the ICC and the four constituent countries mutually agreed to dissolve the team, with Nigeria becoming an associate member, and Gambia, Ghana and Sierra Leone becoming affiliate members (associate members from 2017).
Regional bodies
Regional bodies aim to organise, promote and develop the game of cricket in their respective ICC regions.
