The International Cricket Council (ICC) was founded at Lord’s on 15 June 1909 as the Imperial Cricket Conference,[1] with Australia, England, and South Africa as its founding members.
In the beginning, only countries within the Commonwealth could join.[2] India, New Zealand and the West Indies joined in 1926, and Pakistan joined in 1953 after the partition of India.[3] In 1961, South Africa resigned from the Conference due to their leaving the Commonwealth,[2] but they continued to play Test cricket until their international exile in 1970.[4]
The Imperial Cricket Conference was renamed the International Cricket Conference in 1965, with new rules permitting countries from outside the Commonwealth to be elected into the governing body for the first time: Fiji and the USA became the first associate member nations that year.[2]
In 1981, Sri Lanka became the first associate member to be elected a full member, returning the number of Test-playing nations to seven. In 1989, the ICC was again renamed, this time to the International Cricket Council.[2] South Africa was re-elected as a full member of the ICC in 1991, with Zimbabwe elected in 1992,[3] and Bangladesh elected in 2000.[3]
On 22 June 2017, Ireland and Afghanistan were granted full member (and Test) status, bringing the number of full members to 12.[5]
As of November 2023, there are 108 ICC members, with 12 full members and 96 associate members, 8 of which have ODI status. [6]
The membership committee will consider all future requests for membership – full and associate – against an objective set of criteria. There was previously a third level, affiliate membership, which was abolished in June 2017, with all existing affiliate members becoming associate members,[7] and introducing a two-tier hierarchy (full members and associate members): any new member elected to the ICC would be an associate member, with the possibility of promotion to full member status based on ongoing performance in international competition.
From July to October 2019, the ICC suspended Zimbabwe Cricket due to government interference, the first time this had occurred with a full member side.[8][9][10] From November 2023 to January 2024, the ICC suspended Sri Lanka Cricket due to government interference in the board. [11]
Full members:
Full members are the governing bodies for cricket in a country or a group of associated countries representing a geographical area.
All full members have a right to send a representative team to play official Test matches, have full voting rights at meetings of the ICC, and are automatically qualified to play ODIs and T20Is.[2] The West Indies cricket team is a combined team representing 15 countries and territories from the Caribbean, while the English cricket team represents both England and Wales and the Irish cricket team represents all of the island of Ireland.
Of these 12 nations, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Ireland played as associate members before being elected as full members.
In April 2021, ICC granted permanent Women’s Test status to all the full member nations.[12
| NO | Country | Teams | Governing body | Full member since[2] | Test status since | Region |
| 1 |  Afghanistan | Men • Women • U19 | Afghanistan Cricket Board | 22 June 2017 | 14 June 2018 | Asia |
| 2 |  Australia | Men • Women • U19 | Cricket Australia | 15 June 1909 | 15 March 1877 | East Asia-Pacific |
| 3 |  Bangladesh | Men • Women • U19 | Bangladesh Cricket Board | 26 June 2000 | 10 November 2000 | Asia |
| 4 |  England | Men • Women • U19 | England and Wales Cricket Board | 15 June 1909 | 15 March 1877 | Europe |
| 5 |  India | Men • Women • U19 | Board of Control for Cricket in India | 31 May 1926 | 25 June 1932 | Asia |
| 6 |  Ireland | Men • Women • U19 | Cricket Ireland | 22 June 2017 | 11 May 2018 | Europe |
| 7 |  New Zealand | Men • Women • U19 | New Zealand Cricket | 31 May 1926 | 10 January 1930 | East Asia-Pacific |
| 8 |  Pakistan | Men • Women • U19 | Pakistan Cricket Board | 28 July 1952 | 16 October 1952 | Asia |
| 9 |  South Africa | Men • Women • U19 | Cricket South Africa | 15 June 1909 | 12 March 1889 | Africa |
| 10 |  Sri Lanka | Men • Women • U19 | Sri Lanka Cricket | 21 July 1981 | 17 February 1982 | Asia |
| 11 |  West Indies | Men • Women • U19 | Cricket West Indies | 31 May 1926 | 23 June 1928 | America |