Cricket Federation of Cambodia (CFC) Gets ICC Membership

2024-05-01 ScoreWaves Staff

With the rising popularity of Cricket, new countries are adapting it. Cambodia becomes the latest ICC member. Read the blog to learn more about the event.

The way Cricket has emerged and gained recognition around the world is tremendous. It is one of the most popular sports in the world with over 2.5 billion followers as of 2022. Operating a sport on such a large scale is quite complex without streamlined operations and processes.

Various entities come into operation and make it possible. ICC is one such body that has regulated the sport, increased its popularity and raised the game’s scale.

About the International Cricket Council (ICC)

Worldwide, ICC owns the control and charge of cricket. Equipped with 108 members, ICC controls and manages everything related to the sport on an international level. The main aim of ICC is to make cricket bigger.

ICC sets the rules of the game using a Code of Conduct which manages the playing conditions, the Decision Review System, and other rules. ICC is also responsible for selecting match officials who work across all the official international games.

Thanks to ICC’s Anti-graft Unit, ICC plans how to confront graft.

How a Country Gets an ICC Membership?

ICC is responsible for managing both the formats - men’s and women’s cricket. ICC takes charge of managing playing conditions and Test matches and ODI officials. ICC also conducts international cricket tournaments for men, women, and children.

Types of Members in ICC

This group has two types of members, which are:

Full Members

As per the ICC rule of book, full members are recognised as

Cricket governing bodies of a country
Group of countries that play cricket together
An area where representative teams can play official Test matches (12 members)

Associate Members

An associate member can be

Cricket governing bodies of a country accepted by the ICC
Countries playing cricket together
A geographical area with a promising and well-organised cricket culture irrespective of their full membership (94 members)

In order to become an ICC member, there are in total 17 points to consider-

Constitution and General Information
Clubs
Format of a Season
Schools Cricket
Grounds
Players
Finances & Sponsorship
National Team Record
Spectator Interest
Media Coverage
Youth Development
Coaches
Cricket History
Playing Standards
Umpiring
Tours
Composition of National Team

Obviously, a country that deserves to be an Associate member can skip the Affiliate rank step. The United Arab Emirates is a good example of this.

Why ICC Membership is Important?

As Associate members, the new members will be officially represented at the ICC board level by three other Associate members. They would also get money from the ICC every year.

The exact amount will be decided by a mix of three measures on the ICC scorecard, which has thirteen areas for evaluation. They are split up like this.

Scorecard Grants - Awarded for off-field performance measures like domestic participation numbers, facilities, umpires, amount of non-ICC income generated etc.

Competition Grants - Reserved for tournament performances.

Cambodia - New ICC Member

Recently, ICC awarded the Associate participation to two Asian and one African country in 2022 - Cambodia, Uzbekistan, and Cote d'Ivoire. With this addition, there are a total of 108 ICC members now, where 96 are Associates.

ICC has now 25 Asian countries as members. Cote d'Ivoire becomes the 21st African country to join ICC as a member. COVID-19 severely damaged various industries, and cricket was no different. The Cricket Federation of Cambodia (CFC) was badly affected due to the pandemic.

Soon, when the world got normal, ICC granted Cambodia a membership on the basis of -

Inclusion of women in cricket
A Twenty20 event with eight teams was planned for November 2022
Starting up indoor cricket at eight schools
14 registered teams play regular men's senior domestic cricket in Cambodia
A promising junior cricket system with coaches from the country

About Cambodia Federation of Cambodia (CFC)

Cambodia Federation of Cambodia (CFC) or the Cricket Association of Cambodia (CAC) originated in 2011. It is interesting to know how cricket was introduced in the country! Immigrant Cambodians upon returning from Australia, England, and other cricket-playing countries brought the game to their country.

As early as 2019, the men's national team played unofficial internationals against a Malaysian Development side. They then went on to win on their next tours.

Cambodian Cricket Team

Led by Luqman Butt as Captain, the squad has 8 batsmen, 4 bowlers, 6 all-rounders, and 2 wicket-keepers. Currently, Cambodia stands at the 43rd spot in the International ICC Twenty20 Rankings.

Wrapping Up

Presently, cricket is the world’s third-largest global sport. For it to attain more popularity and recognition, ICC is bringing out new initiatives and adding more countries as its members. Soon we shall be witnessing the team playing at major events like the ICC Men’s T20I World Cup.

Bringing nations like Cambodia or Uzbekistan into recognition, ICC is leaving no stone unturned in ensuring a global status for cricket. Soon, cricket will lead and emerge as the Top Global Sport.

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