Most games are played as part of "tours" when one nation travels to another for a number of weeks or months and plays a number of matches of various sorts against the host nation. World Cups featuring several countries at once, are organized by the ICC. The ICC is also responsible for cricket games played at multi-sport events such asOlympic Games,Commonwealth Games,African Games,Asian Games,South Asian Games andPacific Games.
There was no formal structure for international cricket until the early 20th century.[1] In 1744, theLaws of Cricket were codified for the first time and then amended with new additions such aslbw and middle stump. TheMarylebone Cricket Club (MCC), founded in 1787; immediately became the custodian of the Laws and has made periodic revisions and recodifications subsequently.[2] Thefirst international match was contested in 1844 between teams representing theUnited States andCanada, atSt George's Cricket Club inNew York.[3] The ICC founded in 1909 as theImperial Cricket Conference,[4] overtook the governance of international cricket since, although theLaws of Cricket have remained under the governance of the MCC.[5]
MostTest,ODI andT20I matches take place in the form of "tours".[6] Test series can last from two to six matches, but some tours consist of only a single Test.[7] Six-match series were common in the 1970s and early 1980s, with thelast six-match series to date taking place in1997–98 season between theWest Indies andEngland.[8]The Ashes in England were six-match Test series between1981 and1997, but Australia reverted to five matches in its home series from 1982 to 1983.[9] ODI series generally last from three to seven matches.[10] T20I series last from one to five matches.[11] Tours may include a multi-team one-day tournament, often referred to as a "triangular" or "quadrangular" tournament.[12]
Sometimes, aperpetual trophy is awarded to the winning team. Some notable perpetual trophies include:
The ICC Future Tours Programme (abbreviated as ICC FTP) is a schedule of international cricket tours and tournaments which structure the programme ofcricket events forICCfull members andassociate members with ODI status, over a period of time.
The FTP schedules bilateral cricket tours with the objective of each team playing each other at least once at home and once away over a period of 10 years known as the "Ten Year Plan" since 2006. If the cricket boards of two individual countries reach an agreement, they can play more than two series.[31][32] The FTP also schedules associate tri-nation series with the objective of each team playing each other at least once at home, once away and once at a neutral venue over a cycle of 4 years since 2019.[33][34] If a team does not want to travel to a particular country for a bilateral or tri-nation series due to security reasons, then, by the mutual agreement of the respective boards, that series can be shifted to a neutral venue such as the UAE or any other country where the facilities are deemed adequate.[35][36]
In essence, after every Test series, the two teams involved receive points based on a mathematical formula. The total of each team's points total is divided by the total number of matches to give a 'rating', and the Test-playing teams are by order of rating (this can be shown in a table).[88]
From 2002 to 2019, the top-ranked Test team was awarded with the ICC Test Championship mace and the top team at each 1 April cut-off (until 2019) was also awarded a cash prize, the winners of which are listed below. The mace is now awarded to the winners of the ICC World Test Championship.
The following table shows the test mace won by each team:
TheICC ODI Team Rankings were created, and are run, by the ICC for reasons similar to the Test Rankings. The rankings are simply an international ranking scheme overlaid on the regular ODI (One Day International) match schedule. After every ODI match, the two teams involved receive points based on a mathematical formula. The total of each team's points total is divided by the total number of matches to give a rating, and all teams are ranked on a table in order of rating.[90] The ranking does not replace the World Cup; the latter still carries much more significance to most cricket fans.
The ranking consisted two separate tables until merged into a single table in 2018. The ten ICC Full Members that play Test cricket were automatically listed on the main table while the six Associate Members with One Day International status were listed on a secondary table, but are eligible for promotion to the main table by meeting certain criteria.[91]
As with the Test and ODI Rankings, theICC T20I Team Rankings are an internationalT20 ranking system run by the ICC. It is simply a ranking scheme overlaid on the regular T20I match schedule.[92] After every T20I match, the two teams involved receive points based on a mathematical formula. The total of each team's points total is divided by the total number of matches to give a rating, and all teams are ranked on a table in order of rating.[93][94] This ranking does not replace the ICC World Twenty20 competition.
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India
Pakistan
Sri Lanka
Australia
South Africa
England
