International Cricket Council
Motto
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Great Sport Great Spirit
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Formation
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15 June 1909
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Headquarters
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Dubai, United Arab Emirates
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Membership
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CEO
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Chairman
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Website
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The International
Cricket Council (ICC) is the international governing body
of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial
Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from England, Australia and
South Africa, renamed the International Cricket Conference in 1965, and
took up its current name in 1989.
The ICC has 106
members: 10 Full
Members that play-official Test matches, 37 Associate
Members, and 59 Affiliate
Members.The ICC is responsible for the organisation and governance
of cricket's major international tournaments, most notably the Cricket World Cup. It also appoints the umpires and referees that officiate at all sanctioned Test
matches, One Day International
and Twenty20 Internationals. It
promulgates the ICC Code of Conduct,
which sets professional standards of discipline for international cricket, and
also co-ordinates action against corruption and match-fixing through its Anti-Corruption
and Security Unit (ACSU). The ICC does not control bilateral
fixtures between member countries (which include all Test matches), it does not govern domestic
cricket in member countries, and it does not make the laws of the game, which remain under the control
of the Marylebone Cricket
Club.
Mustafa Kamal,
the former president of the Bangladesh Cricket
Board, is the President of the Council who succeeded Alan Isaac, the former chairman of New Zealand Cricket.
The current CEO is David Richardson
who succeeded Haroon Lorgat.On 26
June 2014, N. Srinivasan, the
former president of BCCI, was announced as the new chairman of the council.
History
On 15 June 1909
representatives from England, Australia
and South Africa
met at Lord's and
founded the Imperial Cricket Conference. Membership was confined to the
governing bodies of cricket within the British Empire where Test cricket was played. West Indies,
New Zealand
and India were
elected as Full Members in 1926, doubling the number of Test-playing nations to
six. That year it was also agreed to make a change in membership, with election
being for; "governing bodies of cricket in countries within the Empire to
which cricket teams are sent, or which send teams to England." However the
United States did not meet these criteria and was not made a member. After the formation of Pakistan in 1947, it was given Test status in 1952, becoming the seventh
Test-playing nation. In May 1961 South Africa left the Commonwealth and
therefore lost membership.
In 1965, the Imperial
Cricket Conference was renamed the International Cricket Conference
and new rules adopted to permit the election of countries from outside the
Commonwealth. This led to the expansion of the Conference, with the admission
of Associate Members. Associates were each entitled to one vote, while the
Foundation and Full Members were entitled to two votes on ICC resolutions.
Foundation Members retained a right of veto.
Sri Lanka
was admitted as a Full Member in 1981, returning the number of Test-playing
nations to seven. In 1989, new rules were adopted and International Cricket Conference
changed its name to the current name, the International Cricket Council.
South Africa was re-elected as a Full Member of the ICC in 1991, after the end
of apartheid; this was followed in 1992 by the
admission of Zimbabwe as
the ninth Test-playing nation. Then, in the year 2000 Bangladesh received test status.
Location
The ICC's
offices in Dubai.
From its
formation the ICC had Lord's Cricket Ground
as its home, and from 1993 had its offices in the "Clock Tower"
building at the nursery end of the ground. The independent ICC was funded
initially by commercial exploitation of the rights to the World Cup of One Day
International cricket. As not all Member countries had double-tax agreements
with England, it was necessary to protect cricket's revenues by creating a
company, ICC Development (International) Pty Ltd – known as IDI, outside the
UK. This was established in January 1994 and was based in Monaco.
For the
remainder of the nineties, the administration of IDI was a modest affair. But
with the negotiation of a bundle of rights to all ICC events from 2001–2008,
revenues available to International cricket and the ICC member countries rose
substantially. This led to a growth in the number of commercial staff employed
by IDI in Monaco. It also had the disadvantage that the Council's cricket
administrators, who remained at Lord's, were separated from their commercial
colleagues in Monaco. The Council decided to seek ways of bringing all of their
staff together in one office whilst protecting their commercial income from
tax.
The option of
staying at Lord's was investigated and a request was made, through Sport England, to the British Government to allow
the ICC to have all its personnel (including those working on commercial
matters) in London – but be given special exemption from paying UK corporation tax on its commercial income. The
British Government was unwilling to create a precedent and would not agree to
this request. As a consequence the ICC examined other locations and eventually
settled on the emirate of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
ICC is registered in British Virgin Islands.
In August 2005 the ICC moved its offices to Dubai,
and subsequently closed its offices at Lord's and Monaco. The move to Dubai was
made after an 11–1 vote by the ICC's Executive Board in favour.[7]
Whilst the
principal driver of the ICC's move to Dubai
was the wish to bring its main employees together in one tax efficient
location, a secondary reason was the wish to move offices closer to the
increasingly important new centres of cricketing power in South Asia. Lord's had been a logical venue when the ICC had
been administered by the MCC (a
situation that lasted until 1993). But the growing power of India and Pakistan
in world cricket had made the continued control of international cricket by a
British private members club (the MCC)
anachronistic and unsustainable. A direct consequence of the changes and
reforms instituted in 1993 was eventually to be the move away from Lord's to a
more neutral venue.
Rules and regulation
The
International Cricket Council overlooks playing conditions, bowling reviews,
and other ICC regulations. Even though the ICC doesn't have copyright to the laws of cricket and only the MCC may
change the laws, nowadays this would usually only be done after discussions
with the game's global governing body, the ICC. The ICC also has a "Code of Conduct"
to which teams and players in international matches are required to adhere.
Where breaches of this code occur the ICC can apply sanctions, usually fines.
In 2008 the ICC imposed 19 penalties on players.[9]
Tournaments and income generation
Variant ICC
Logo
The ICC
generates income from the tournaments it organises, primarily the Cricket World Cup, and it distributes the
majority of that income to its members. Sponsorship and television rights of
the World Cup brought in over US$1.6 billion between 2007 and 2015, by far the
ICC's main source of income. In the nine-month accounting period to 31 December
2007 the ICC had operating income of USD 12.66 million, mainly from member
subscriptions and sponsorship. In contrast event income was USD 285.87 million,
including USD 239 million from the 2007 World Cup. There was also investment
income of USD 6.695 million in the period.
The ICC has no
income streams from the bilateral international cricket matches (Test matches, One Day International
and Twenty20 Internationals), that account for the
great majority of the international playing schedule, as they are owned and run
by its members. It has sought to create other new events to augment its World
Cup revenues. These include the ICC Champions Trophy
and the ICC Super Series
played in Australia in 2005. However these events have not been as successful
as the ICC hoped. The Super Series was widely seen as a failure and is not
expected to be repeated, and India called for the Champions Trophy to be
scrapped in 2006. The Champions Trophy
2004 event was referred to in Wisden 2005
by the editor as a "turkey of a tournament" and a "fiasco";
although the 2006 edition
was seen as a greater success due to a new format.[13][14]
The ICC World Twenty20,
first played in 2007,
was a success. The ICC's current plan is to have an international tournament
every year, with a Twenty20 World Cup played in even number years, the World
Cup continuing to be held the year before the Olympic Games,
and the ICC Champions Trophy in the remaining year of the cycle. This cycle
will begin in 2010,
one year after the 2009 edition.
Umpires and referees
The ICC
appoints international umpires and Match referees who officiate at all sanctioned
Test matches, One-Day Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals. The ICC
operates 3 panels of umpires: namely the Elite Panel,
the International
Panel, and the Associates
and Affiliates Panel.
As of April
2012, the Elite Panel includes twelve umpires. In theory, two umpires from the
Elite Panel officiate at every Test match, whilst one Elite Panel umpire stands
in ODI matches together with an umpire from the International Panel. In
practice, members of the International Panel stand in occasional Test matches,
as this is viewed as a good opportunity to see whether they can cope at the
Test level, and whether they should be elevated to the Elite Panel. The Elite
Panel are full-time employees of the ICC, although do still, very occasionally
umpire first-class cricket
in their country of residence. The average, annual, officiating schedule for
Elite Umpires is 8–10 Test matches and 10–15 ODIs, a potential on-field
workload of 75 days plus travel and preparation time per year.
The
International Panel is made up of officials nominated from each of the ten
Test-playing cricket boards. The Panel Members officiate in ODI matches in
their home country, and assist the Elite Panel at peak times in the cricket
calendar when they can be appointed to overseas ODI and Test matches.
International Panel members also undertake overseas umpiring assignments such
as the ICC Under 19 Cricket World
Cup to improve their knowledge and understanding of overseas
conditions, and help them prepare for possible promotion onto the Elite Panel.
Some of these umpires also officiates in the Cricket World Cup. Each of the
Test cricket boards nominates a "third umpire" who can be called upon
to review certain on-field decisions through instant television replays. All
third umpires are first-class umpires in their own county, and the role is seen
as a step onto the International Panel, and then the Elite Panel.
The inaugural ICC Associate and Affiliate
International Umpires Panel was formed in June 2006. It superseded the ICC
Associate and Affiliate International Umpires Panel, created in 2005, and
serves as the pinnacle for umpires from non-Test playing Members, with
selection achieved through each of the five ICC Development Program Regional
Umpires Panels. Members of the Associate and Affiliate International Umpires
Panel are eligible for appointments to ODIs involving ICC Associate Members,
ICC Intercontinental Cup matches and other Associate and Affiliate tournaments.
High-performing umpires may also be considered for other ICC events, including
the ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup, and could also be invited to be involved in the
ICC Champions Trophy and ICC Cricket World Cup
There is also
an Elite Panel of ICC
Referees who act as the independent representative of the ICC at all
Test and ODI matches. As of January 2009, it has 6 members, all highly
experienced former international cricketers. The Referees do not have the power
to report players or officials (which has to be done by the umpires), but they
are responsible for conducting hearings under the ICC Code of Conduct and
imposing penalties as required at matches, ranging from an official reprimand
to a lifetime ban from cricket. Decisions can be appealed, but the original
decision is upheld in most cases.
The Council
failed to achieve consensus among the cricket playing nations as of June 2012,
on application of Umpire's Decision Review System universally due to opposition
by BCCI .It will continue to be applied subject to mutual agreement of the
playing countries. In July 2012, ICC decided to send a delegation to show the
ball tracking research done by Dr Ed Rosten, an expert on computer vision and
technology, to BCCI to remove the scepticism about the use of DRS technology.
Members
The ICC has
three classes of membership: Full Members, the ten governing bodies of teams
that play official Test matches; Associate Members, the 37 governing bodies in
countries where cricket is firmly established and organised but which do not
qualify for Full Membership; and Affiliate Members, the 60 governing bodies in
countries where the ICC recognises that cricket is played according to the Laws of Cricket.
Regional bodies
These regional
bodies aim to organise, promote and develop the game of cricket:
- African Cricket Association
- Asian Cricket Council
- ICC Americas
- ICC East Asia-Pacific
- European Cricket Council
Two further
regional bodies were disestablished following the creation of the African
Cricket Association:
Competitions and awards
The ICC
organises various First-Class and One-Day and twenty20
cricket competitions:
- First-Class
- ICC Test Championship (test league)
- ICC Intercontinental Cup (first class for non-test nations)
- One Day
- ICC ODI Championship (one-day league)
- ICC Cricket World Cup
- ICC Champions Trophy (miniature version of the world cup)
- ICC World Cricket League (league for associate & affiliate members)
- ICC World Cup Qualifier (qualifier for the world cup)
- twenty20
The ICC has
instituted the ICC Awards to
recognise and honour the best international cricket players of the previous 12
months. The inaugural ICC Awards ceremony was held on 7 September 2004, in
London.
The ICC Player Rankings
are a widely followed system of rankings for international cricketers based on
their recent performances. The current sponsor is Reliance Mobile who have signed a deal with the
ICC that will last until 2015.[20]
Anti-corruption and security
The ICC has
also had to deal with drugs and bribery
scandals involving top cricketers. Following the corruption scandals
by cricketers connected with the legal and illegal bookmaking markets, the ICC set up an
Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) in 2000 under the retired Commissioner
of the London Metropolitan
Police, Lord Condon.
Amongst the corruption on which they have reported was that of former South
African captain Hansie Cronje who had
accepted substantial sums of money from an Indian bookmaker for
under-performing or ensuring that certain matches had a pre-determined result.
Similarly, the former Indian
captain Mohammad Azharuddin
and Ajay Jadeja were investigated, found guilty of
match-fixing, and banned from playing cricket (for life and for five years,
respectively). The ACSU continues to monitor and investigate any reports of
corruption in cricket and protocols have been introduced which for example
prohibit the use of mobile telephones
in dressing rooms.
Prior to the
2007 Cricket World Cup
ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed warned
against any corruption and said that the ICC would be vigilant and intolerant
against it.[21]
In 2010, 3
Pakistani players, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt were found to
be guilty of spot-fixing, and were banned for 5 years, 7 years and 10 years
respectively.
Global Cricket Academy
The ICC Global Cricket
Academy (GCA) is located at Dubai Sports City in the United Arab Emirates.
The GCA's facilities include two ovals, each with 10 turf pitches, outdoor turf
and synthetic practice facilities, indoor practice facilities including hawk
eye technology and a cricket specific gymnasium. Rod Marsh has been appointed as the Academy's
Director of Coaching. The opening, originally planned for 2008, took place in
2010.
ICC Cricket World Program
The
International Cricket Council telecasts a weekly program on television called
ICC Cricket World. It is produced by Sportsbrand.
It is a weekly
30-minute program providing the latest cricket news, recent cricket action
including all Test and One-Day International matches, as well as off-field
features and interviews
Criticism
Journalist
Peter Della Penna, of ESPN Cricinfo, has
criticised the ICC for what he has perceived as attempts to minimise reports of
security issues relating to unruly fans at matches.Cricket Ireland's chief executive Warren Deutrom
has criticised them for double standards between Test-playing and Associate
nations and the lack of clearly defined criteria allowing new countries to
achieve Test status.
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