Asian Cricket Counsil

Asian Cricket Council (ACC)

Asian countries established the Asian Cricket Council to promote cricket in Asia. It gave them a chance to play at the international level. Through this council, many countries started participating in cricket and qualifying for many events.

Foundation

Test-playing countries laid their foundation in the Asia Cup, which were

  • Pakistan
  • India
  • Sri Lanka
  • Bangladesh

In 1983, it was fully established, and the first tournament was played in 1984. Its headquarters was established in Malaysia. After 2 years, it shifted to Colombo, Sri Lanka. In 2019, it again shifted to Dubai, near to the ICC main office. Its main role is to arrange tournaments and to prepare teams for schedules, including the Asia Cup.

Nowadays, it plays a major role in Asian cricket and organizes events to encourage cricket and its passion among today’s generation.

Presidents

The leaders of the council change periodically according to the full members’ countries in Asia.

They nominate candidates and select one after voting. The total term of the presidency is two years. After choosing the other president, the chairman of the cricket board of their country selects the role of the president.

Now, Mohsin Naqvi is the president from Pakistan who sat on the chair in December 2024. He succeeded Shammi Silva, a Sri Lankan, as president of the ACC.

Asian Cricket Council Members

Permanent Members

The permanent members of the ACC are test-playing nations as follows:

  • Pakistan
  • Sri Lanka
  • India
  • Bangladesh
  • Afghanistan

These teams played every year without the need to fulfill the qualification criteria.

Associate Members

The associate members of the Asia Cup include 20 countries from Asia and are as follows:

  1. United Arab Emirates (UAE) 
  2. Nepal 
  3. Oman 
  4. Qatar 
  5. Saudi Arabia 
  6. Bahrain 
  7. Kuwait 
  8. Malaysia 
  9. Hong Kong 
  10. Singapore 
  11. Maldives 
  12. Bhutan 
  13. Iran 
  14. Thailand 
  15. Myanmar 
  16. China 
  17. Mongolia 
  18. Cambodia 
  19. Indonesia 
  20. Uzbekistan 

Events programs

At first, they launched the Asia Cup program, then they developed and included more cricket events.

These events are as follows:

  • Asia Cup (ODI and T20)
  • Emerging Teams Asia Cup
  • ACC Men’s U-19 Asia Cup
  • ACC women’s Asia cup
  • ACC men’s and women’s T20 Emerging Cup

Relationship with ICC

The Asian Cricket Council works independently but obeys the rules of the ICC, including the terms and conditions of playing cricket and security policies.

ICC has a strong relationship with them because it provides financial support and a chance to participate in cricket tournaments. They also compete with each other in cricket stadiums with teams, but the ACC is independent in promoting cricket in Asia.

Player Development Plans

Both boards have many plans to promote cricket in Asia. These programs intend to go to small areas. They invite younger players to participate in competitions. They select the best teams and make them play at the international level.

Asian Cricket Council Development Programs

In particular, the Women’s Asia Cup was held in associate member countries, and they qualified for the larger Asia Cup.