Dubai, April 24: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Wednesday revealed the regional winners in the 2023 edition of the ICC Development Awards, highlighting the remarkable success stories to have taken place in emerging cricket nations during the 2023 calendar year.

The ICC Development Awards were established in 2002 to celebrate the world-leading initiatives and innovative programmes delivered by ICC Members to grow the game around the globe.

21 nations have been honoured as regional winners spanning six award categories: the ICC Development Initiative of the Year, the 100% Cricket Women’s Cricket Initiative of the Year, the ICC Digital Fan Engagement of the Year and the Cricket 4 Good Social Impact Initiative of the Year, plus two awards recognising the outstanding on-field performances in men’s and women’s international cricket in 2023.

Among the standout initiatives that have been recognised as regional winners are vibrant participation programmes in Italy, Mexico and Nigeria, women’s cricket initiatives in Sierra Leone, Costa Rica and Japan, plus social impact projects in Bahrain, Samoa and Scotland.

Also honoured are performances by Canada, Indonesia as well as the Netherlands, who provided plenty of highlights during the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 in India.

Regional winners will now be put forward for voting to determine the global awardees in each category, selected by a specialist panel of game development experts, former international

cricketers and media personnel.

Speaking on the announcement of regional winners, ICC General Manager – Development, William Glenwright said, “We are delighted to announce the regional winners in the ICC Development Awards for 2023. I want to thank all of our Members for the work that they commit to growing the game like it has never grown before and congratulate all of the successful member federations on their remarkable achievements in 2023.”

“The ICC Development Awards is a long-running initiative that recognises and rewards the outstanding efforts to grow and strengthen the game in our 94 ICC Associate Member nations. 2023 was an extraordinary year for emerging nations and their relentless passion for the sport is evident in the nominations we have received,” he said.

“Through a variety of participation programmes, digital innovations and inclusive social impact programmes we have once again seen how cricket continues to enrich communities around the world. With the addition of some historic on-field successes, there is plenty to celebrate and we look forward to crowning the six global winners later in the year,” Glenwright added.

The ICC Development Initiative of the Year award recognises the outstanding development initiative delivered during the year and regional winners include Nigeria Cricket Federation, whose Under-17 Cricket Championship continues to provide competitive playing opportunities for boys and girls across the country. Mexico Cricket Association is nominated for their innovative programme that saw the sport delivered in prisons throughout Mexico City.

Cricket PNG were honoured for their Malolo Cricket initiative – a hard ball competition designed for 12 to 18-year-olds which exploded in popularity in 2023. Completing the nominations are Qatar Cricket Association’s successful implementation of national projects including criiio to grow their participation numbers and Federazione Cricket Italiana’s ‘Now Let’s Play Together!’ scheme, where cricket was introduced to school curricula to encourage greater participation across a variety of age groups in the country, with striking results.

The 100% Cricket Female Cricket Initiative of the Year acknowledges the outstanding female cricket focused initiatives and among the programmes highlighted as regional winners are Cricket Belgium’s initiative to develop their women’s cricket infrastructure and expand the network of players and volunteers led by Smriti Kaneria, Costa Rica Cricket Federation’s groundbreaking work alongside their National Institute for Women to host a Mothers and Daughters programme, the Women’s Japan Premier League delivered by the Japan Cricket Association to drive greater competition among their national women’s team, Sierra Leone Cricket Association’s initiative on International Women’s Day which brought 800 females together alongside inspirational public figures for empowerment discussions and cricket activities plus finally Oman Cricket’s ‘Cricket4Her’ programme – an effort to redefine the landscape of women’s cricket in the country through tournaments and skill development.

In the men’s performance category, the regional winners include Oman, who celebrated a successful year in ODI and T20I cricket, Indonesia, who claimed bronze at the SEA Games during a bumper international year, Sierra Leone, who enjoyed landmark victories at U19 level over Nigeria and Uganda, Canada, who emerged victorious from the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Americas Qualifier and the Netherlands, who produced a series of blockbuster victories at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 and the Qualifier.

A number of notable entries are among the regional winners of the women’s performance category, including Argentina’s record breaking feats against Chile, Indonesia’s U19 exploits in the maiden ICC U19 Women’s T20 World Cup, Scotland’s historic ODI victory over Ireland in October, Sierra Leone’s performances in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup qualification pathway and UAE’s impressive streak en route to the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier.

The regional winners in the ICC Digital Fan Engagement of the Year include Cricket Association of Nepal’s growth in popularity on social media channels, Cricket Namibia’s wide-ranging #Cricket4All media campaign, Persatuan Cricket Indonesia’s engagement with global cricket audiences through its ‘Cricket Insights’ newsletter, Koninklijke Nederlandse Cricket Bond’s innovative viral digital campaign to identify net bowlers for their training camp in Bangalore ahead of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, and Bermuda Cricket Board’s efforts to establish the ‘World of Americas Cricket’ website to promote the sport in the region.

Finally, the projects celebrated in the Cricket 4 Good Social Impact Initiative of the Year include Cricket Bahrain’s dynamic ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Trophy Tour stop in which they engaged a variety of community groups alongside the prized silverware, Mexico Cricket Association’s Street Child project teaching cricket to disadvantaged children across the country, Cricket Scotland’s partnership with a local charity to increase access to cricket for women, girls and disability groups, Samoa Cricket’s ‘Healthy Nanas’ programme, which successfully uses the sport as a vehicle for social change and finally Sierra Leone Cricket Association’s ‘Cricket for Change’ initiative, actively improving the lives of 500 children in the Kroobay community in the Western region.

UNI