Afghanistan and Ireland became Cricket’s 11th & 12th Full members when ICC (International Cricket Council) approved their applications in their Annual General Meeting held in London in June 2017. It was after a gap of 17 years when Bangladesh were given their Full membership in 2001. Let us view some of the performance criteria’s which are considered while reviewing a country’s application for Full membership by ICC:
To be considered eligible for membership as a Full Member of the ICC, the Associate Member must satisfy the following membership criteria
Governance, administration and finance
Have in place a detailed governance system that
(i) is fit for purpose
(ii) includes, as a minimum (a) a detailed written constitution containing provisions covering membership, AGMs and voting rights, and (b) adequate integrity related rules and regulations covering anticorruption, anti-doping and ethics; and
(iii) is consistently applied; Have in place an executive, administrative and corporate structure which is fit for purpose and which will enable the Applicant to exercise all the duties and responsibilities placed on it by its constitution and to meet its strategic plan;
(iv) Provide fully audited accounts for the previous four (4) years which do not contain any ‘material’ qualification;
(v) Generate a minimum of 10% of its own total revenues, i.e. other than all forms of direct or indirect ICC funding, in each of the previous four (4) years; A debt/equity ratio of not more than 2:1 in each of the previous four (4) years ; and Positive current assets as against current liabilities in at least three (3) of the previous four (4) years.
Performance
Currently feature on the ICC’s official Men’s ODI rankings table; Have participated in at least three Men’s ICC Cricket World Cups and/or Men’s ICC T20 World Cups in the previous eight (8) years; Have registered victories over at least:
(a) one (1) Full Member team (who was ranked in the top ten of the official ICC Men’s ODI or T20I rankings (as applicable) at the time of relevant victory) in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, the ICC Men’s CWC Qualifier and/or the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup; and
(b) four (4) victories against two (2) or more Full Member teams (who were ranked in the top ten of the official ICC Men’s ODI or T20I rankings (as applicable) at the time of relevant victory) in Men’s bilateral ODI and/or T20I cricket; in both cases over the previous eight (8) years;
Have either (a) participated in at least one (1) ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup or ICC Women’s T20 World Cup over the previous four (4) years or (b) currently feature on the ICC’s official women’s ODI rankings table; and
Have participated in at least two (2) editions of the ICC Men’s U19 Cricket World Cup in the last eight (8) years.
Participation and Domestic Structures
Have in place domestic participation structures which include:
a. Men’s National 50-over tournament structures, which comprise at least three (3) teams, with List A status;
b. Men’s National 20-over tournament structures, which comprise at least three (3) teams, with List A Twenty20 status;
Have satisfactory junior men’s pathway structures in place; Have satisfactory women’s pathway structures in place;
Have a sustained and sufficient pool of players to support strong and consistent national level selection across the senior men’s, U19 men’s and women’s teams; and Have strong domestic participation levels in the sport and evidence of significant growth over the previous eight (8) years.
Infrastructure
Have access to at least two (2) Men’s ODI venues accredited by the ICC for Full Member matches; and Have appropriate venues and facilities to support and sustain the domestic tournament structures including those described in (d)(i) above.
Development Programme
Have implemented over the previous four (4) years a coordinated and developed general coaching and talent identification programme which has as its primary aim the increase of the level of awareness and enjoyment of cricket by participation of all ages; and Have implemented over the previous four (4) years a coordinated and developed programme to train coaches, umpires, curators and scorers.
