The Annual ICC Development Awards are the means to recognize the work undertaken or execute towards growth of cricket by individuals/groups around the world in the Associate member countries. The members are invited to submit nominations, from which the winners are chosen in the Annual ICC Conference held each year around June/July.
The following were the winners for the calendar year 2019:
- Gray-Nicolls Participation Programme of the Year: The winner of this award is a high performing national cricket body with an excellent national cricket pathway that caters for senior and junior players, both male and female who has excelled in the previous 12 months.
Winner: Papua New Guinea – Entry-level programmes
Over 50% of the national men’s team (Barramundis) and women’s team (Lewas) started their cricket in Cricket PNG’s BSP School Kriket programme. It had over 235,000 schoolchildren participating in 2019, taking the number to 1.45 million since inception. The programme is run in a safe, gender equal, educational and fun environment with a gender ratio of 50/50 (boys and girls).
Another program launched in 2019 was the Cricket for Good with ChildFund Australia pilot project, which was targeted at the age-group levels above 18+ and conducted between Aug – Dec 2019 in Tubusereia and Pari villages. The initiative included creating an integrated cricket and life-skills curriculum with an intensive, in-country training program for facilitators in programme delivery. Facilitators were then transitioned into cricket development officers for Cricket PNG.
Botswana, Brazil, Malaysia and the Netherlands were adjudged the regional winners in the category for their work in 2019.
2. Female Participation Programme of the Year: The winner of this award is a high performing national cricket body with initiatives/activities such as competitions, school programs, training courses, clinics or awareness programs, that has enhanced the development of women’s cricket within the community or country in the previous 12 months.
Winner: Rwanda Cricket Association – Cricket Builds Hope
Since the start of the cricket builds hope programme in 2018, around 300 women aged between 15 and 25 have participated in workshops on business and leadership skills, with cricket sessions held afterwards to reinforce the learning. Participants are trained in scoring courses and also provided support in nurturing their ambitions of running small businesses. Rwanda Cricket Association also held community matches at Gahanga International Stadium in Kigali in Nov 2019, as part of the programme.
Bhutan, Chile, Indonesia and Scotland were adjudged the regional winners in the category for their work in 2019.
3. Associate Member Men’s Performance of the Year
Winner: Namibia – vs Hong Kong, Match 14, ICC World Cricket League Division 2, Windhoek
Victory in the must-win game against Hong Kong in the ICC World Cricket League Division 2 in April 2019 ensured that Namibia were back in the ODI status league after a long gap of 16 years, after their appearance in the 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya. Namibia thus booked their place in Men’s Cricket World Cup League 2 (CWC League 2), which is the qualification pathway for Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023.
Namibia continued their good run as they became one of the six teams at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier in UAE to cement their place in the T20 World Cup in Australia, which is now postponed for next year amid COVID-19 pandemic.
4. Associate Member Women’s Performance of the Year
Winner: Cricket Association of Thailand – vs Cricket Ireland, ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier 2019, Scotland
A narrow 2-run win margin against Cricket Ireland’s women’s team meant that the women’s team of Thailand booked their place at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Australia in Feb 2020.
5. Cricket for Change Innovation of the Year
Winner: Japan – Typoon Hagibis Recovery Project
Typhoon Hagibis struck Japan in the second week of October 2019, causing widespread destruction. With 98 deaths nationwide and an estimated JPY 102 billion (USD 15 billion) worth of damage, it is one of the worst natural disasters in the country in recent times. More than 300 volunteers from the cricket community across Japan participated in the relief efforts, which included the Japan U19 squad, who helped with cleaning and the rebuilding efforts instead of practice sessions towards their preparation for ICC U19 Cricket World Cup in South Africa.
All cricket at the four Sano River Grounds, including the Japan Cup Finals, the single-day Champions Trophy, Women’s J-Bash and the Women’s League Grand Final were cancelled due to the damage caused by the typhoon across Sano City, which is the headquarters for Cricket Japan. The U19 World Cup squad had their training sessions also cancelled due to the damages and it was a setback for the young players, who were going to take part in a global tournament for the first time.
6. Digital Engagement of the Year: The winner of this award has made innovative use of digital platforms, campaigns or technology to drive engagement with fans and the wider community.
Winner: Cricket Finland
Cricket Finland made the necessary arrangements for live streaming their national squad’s T20I home series against Spain at Kerava ground and also provided commentary in both english and finnish languages. The result saw cricket reaching finnish households for the first time and also worldwide, as due to the matches being featured in Indian fantasy leagues generated a big viewership for the games in India on YouTube.
Finland’s T20Is and Finnish Premier League matches are now being live streamed mostly on the European Cricket Network’s platform (website and YouTube) and reaches a global audience. With co-ordination with the national broadcaster, Cricket Finland also have plans to include coverage of their women’s national squad as well for future engagements.
ICC General Manager – Development, William Glenwright said: “We are committed to partnering with our Members to continue the sustainable growth of cricket and we are extremely proud of what all of our Members achieved in 2019. The ICC Development Awards are a recognition of the work undertaken by the 92 Associate Members, with 14 especially brilliant programmes, performances and initiatives celebrated across six different categories.
“In 2019, participation in Associate Members grew by 14% whilst the growth in the number of women and girls playing has risen by 13% – recognition of the innovative ways that our Members continue to grow the game of cricket. Cricket is being played by more people around the world than ever before; our Associate Members are playing more international cricket than ever before and Associate Cricket is being watched by more people than ever – with 128 million digital views for ICC Global Qualifying events in 2019. At a very difficult time for the game and the world more broadly, it is wonderful to showcase the outstanding work of our Members in 2019 and reflect on some of the stories of their success.”
