National cricket boards: who they are and what they decide.

A note on sources

For the boards' own histories, only Cricket Australia's history page, the ICC's own pages and Cricinfo's archive of the United Cricket Board's history were read as primary sources. Most other founding dates below come from Wikipedia, a secondary source, and are labelled that way. Where sources give different dates, both are given.

When each nation gained Test status

The ICC's history page gives these years. England, Australia and South Africa were the founder members of the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909; the rest followed:

The boards, one by one

Cricket Australia

Cricket Australia's own history page says the Australasian Cricket Council was formed in March 1892 by New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria, and broke up about seven years later. The Australian Board of Control for International Cricket followed in 1905. Queensland joined under the 1906 constitution, Tasmania gained a representative in 1907 and Western Australia in 1913. The board became the Australian Cricket Board in 1973 and Cricket Australia on 1 July 2003. As the page stood on 22 October 2026, it named Mike Baird AO as Chair from 10 December 2022, its 41st, and Todd Greenberg as Chief Executive from 2025.

England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)

Wikipedia says the ECB was formed in 1997 as the successor to the Test and County Cricket Board. The exact day was not confirmed.

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)

Wikipedia says the BCCI was formed in December 1928 in Madras and was later registered under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975. Secondary sources disagree on the day: some give 1 December 1928, others 4 December 1928.

New Zealand Cricket

Te Ara, the New Zealand government's encyclopedia, is reported to say the New Zealand Cricket Council was founded at a meeting of provincial delegates at the City Hotel, Christchurch, on 27 December 1894, with Heathcote Williams as first president. We saw this only in a search summary because the page itself would not open, so it is unconfirmed. Wikipedia says New Zealand was elected to the Imperial Cricket Conference on 31 May 1926, together with the West Indies and India.

Cricket West Indies

According to Wikipedia, the board began as the West Indies Cricket Board of Control, was renamed the West Indies Cricket Board in 1996, and became Cricket West Indies in May 2017 following a resolution of November 2015. The founding year is disputed: one version says the early 1920s, another gives 1926.

Pakistan Cricket Board

Wikipedia says the board was founded as the Board of Control for Cricket in Pakistan, inaugurated on 1 May 1949, and later renamed. Some sources give 1948 as the founding year instead. The ICC's member page gives 1952 as the year Pakistan joined, when it entered the Test fold in July of that year; the ICC's history pages say Pakistan was admitted on 28 July 1952 and played its first Test in October 1952.

Bangladesh Cricket Board

The ICC's member page says Bangladesh became an ICC Associate Member in 1977 and the tenth Test-playing nation in June 2000, playing its first Test five months later. It lists 2000 as the year Bangladesh joined.

Cricket South Africa

According to Wikipedia, the United Cricket Board of South Africa was formed in June 1991 (29 June 1991 according to Cricinfo's archive) by merging the South African Cricket Union and the South African Cricket Board, ending racial segregation in the game. Wikipedia gives 10 July 1991 as the day South Africa was readmitted to the ICC; the ICC's own history page says July 1991. Wikipedia also says Cricket South Africa was formed in 2002 and became the sole governing body after merging with the United Cricket Board in 2008. The ICC's own history page records South Africa's suspension from international cricket in 1970 over apartheid and its readmission in 1991.

Ireland and Afghanistan

Cricket Ireland and the Afghanistan Cricket Board became Full Members on 22 June 2017, by unanimous vote of the ICC Full Council at The Oval (ICC release).

Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe

The founding years of Sri Lanka Cricket and Zimbabwe Cricket were not part of our research. The ICC's July 2026 release says Sri Lanka Cricket cannot for now be represented at ICC Board meetings while it works on a revised constitution.

What the Laws and the ICC leave to each board

Several rules in the MCC's Laws (2017 Code 4th Edition, 2026) are deliberately left to the national governing body:

• Ball size. Law 4.6: the governing body responsible for a match decides which of the three ball sizes is used; if it has not, the umpires decide.
• Bat types. Law 5.8: bats of Types B and C may be used only at or below levels the national governing body sets, and Type D bats only at the levels it decides. Under the 3rd Edition (2022), Type D bats were for junior players in junior cricket only.
• Junior pitches. Law 6.6: the national governing body sets the pitch length for junior cricket.

Under the ICC's Classification of Official Cricket (1 July 2026), the Full Member where a match is played decides its first-class, List A or Twenty20 status unless the match is in an ICC competition. The classification also lets Full Members allow full playing replacements without a match losing first-class status. Boards also decide whether to adopt changes to the Laws in their own playing conditions, as the MCC notes.

The ICC's suspensions of USA Cricket and Cricket Canada are covered on the ICC page. Each board's entry programmes for new players are on how people learn.