What is the full form of ICC?

ICC: International Cricket Council

ICC stands for International Cricket Council and is an international governing body for cricket. It was established in 1909 as the Imperial Cricket Conference by representatives from Australia, England and South Africa. In 1965, it was renamed International Cricket Conference and later it was renamed International Cricket Council (ICC) in 1989. It is headquartered in Dubai, UAE. The current chairman of ICC as of 24 November 2020 is Greg Barclay.

The council has 105 member nations; some are full members, some are associate members and some are affiliate members. The nations that are full members of ICC include India, New Zealand, England, Australia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, West Indies, and Zimbabwe.

Functions of ICC:

• ICC is responsible for organizing major cricket tournaments such as the Cricket World Cup, ICC T20 World Cup, ICC champions' trophy, etc.
• It also appoints umpires for international T20, One Day and test matches. There are three types of umpires in the umpires' panel of ICC; Elite, International and Associates.
• The ICC also sets standards of discipline for international cricket through its code of conduct. It can also take actions against illegal practices in cricket such as match-fixing, doping, etc., through its Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU).
• It monitors the conditions for playing cricket, bowling action review, decision review system (DRS) and other rules for playing cricket.
• It is determined to promote cricket by organizing exciting global events, to expand the reach of this game and build long-term successful commercial partnerships.
• Its rule may not apply to domestic cricket competitions held in the ICC's member countries.

ICC cannot change the rules of cricket. This authority is with the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) which can change the rule of cricket. However, it is required to consult the ICC before changing any rules. Besides this, ICC has introduced the ICC Awards to honour the best international cricket players of the past 12 months based on their performance.

What is ICC Player Rankings?

ICC Player Rankings is a table that ranks the performances of international cricket players. This ranking is based on a points-based system in which a series of calculations is carried out to rank the players on a scale of 0 to 1000 points. The points of players increases if his performance is improving as compared to his past performance or records and vice versa. The value of the performance of a player in a match is calculated through an algorithm based on various factors in a match.

Income Sources of ICC:

The major sources of income of ICC are the major cricket tournaments that are organized by ICC such as the Cricket World Cup. The income of the ICC is divided among its member states. It earned over US$ 1.6 billion between 2007 and 2015 through sponsorship and television rights of the Cricket World Cup. The other tournaments that generate income for ICC are ICC Champions Trophy, ICC World Cup Twenty20, etc.