African Cricket Association

The main cricket organization in Africa is the African Cricket Association. It was founded in 1997 and had 22 national federations. Jackie Janmohammed is the President of the African Cricket Association. At one time, she was the first woman to lead the Kenya cricket federation.

African Cricket Association: history of creation

Before establishing the African Cricket Association, the International Cricket Council already had four teams: South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Kenya. Of course, South Africa stood out against the background, which was one of the founders of the main international organization. Before the establishment of the African Cricket Association, there were two associations on the African continent:

• the East and Central Africa Cricket Conference. The organization included Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi and Zambia. The East African Cricket team competed in the 1975 World Cup. Since 1989, Africa has been represented globally by the East and Central African cricket team. It existed until 2003 as an associate member of the International Cricket Council when African teams began to act as independent teams.
• the West Africa Cricket Council. This association included Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone. The West African Cricket Team performed internationally. Three attempts to get into the final round of the World Cup for this team were unsuccessful. The East African Cricket team (and then the East and Central African cricket team) had better results. The West African Cricket Team was an associate member of the International Cricket Council until 2003.

African Cricket Association: members

Now two national teams have full status in the African Cricket Association: South Africa and Zimbabwe. In fact, they are only formally subordinate to the African Cricket Association. All key decisions regarding these teams are made at the level of the local federations. The Namibia national cricket team is the only associate member of the African organization that has ODI status. Another 19 teams can only compete in T20I format competitions:

• In 1997, Botswana and Kenya joined the African Cricket Association.
• Since 1998, Uganda has been represented in the organization, since 1999 – Morocco.
• In 2001, the association was replenished with three new members: Lesotho, Saint Helena and Tanzania.
• In 2002, the African Cricket Association included the Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
• In 2004, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda and Zambia became new members of the African organization.
• In 2005, Mali joined the African Cricket Association.
• In 2007, the association had more than 20 members thanks to the entry of Cameroon and Eswatini.
• The last member of the African Cricket Association so far is the National Seychelles Federation.

Since its inception, the African Cricket Association has been headquartered in Benoni (South Africa).

African Cricket Association: tournaments

This organization is responsible for developing cricket in Africa and hosts key tournaments on the African continent. The main tournament organized by the African Cricket Association was the World Cricket League Africa Region. The competitions were first played in 2006, and the last time in 2016. They consisted of three divisions. The tournament was held in odd years in the first division, in the second and third – in even years. The last champion in the elite league was the Namibian national team.

Together with the Asian Cricket Union, the African Cricket Association organized the Afro-Asia Cup in 2005. Both associations were looking forward to this meeting with great impatience. Both African and Asian sides had hoped that the match would cause a stir among television companies, but in reality it turned out to be on a smaller scale. For example, major television companies ESPN / Star and Ten Sports refused to buy broadcasting rights. As a result, the meeting of Asian and African players was shown on Nimbus Sports. It was originally planned that the leading players of one national team and the other would take to the pitch. But in the end, some cricketers began to refuse to come, citing injuries, contractual obligations and other reasons. The Pakistani federation has taken a principled position on this matter. One of the South African national team leaders, Makhaya Ntini, announced that he would prefer to play for the club instead of coming to the Afro-Asia Cup. Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar did not go to the tournament due to injury.

Despite all the problems, the meeting between the African and Asian national teams, consisting of three matches, pleased with the struggle until the very end of 2005. Teams did not find a winner and promised to meet again two years later. In 2007, there was even less attention to the tournament. As for the result of the meeting, the Asians were better in a series of three matches. After the second in the history of the championship, the Afro-Asia Cup was no longer held.

In 2003, the World Championship was held in Africa, hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya. Kenya played the best of the local teams. The team made it to the 1/2 finals. True, at the designated stage, the African team lost without a chance to India. The opponent ran 91 more early. In the final, the Asian team faced Australia. Australians won by 125 runs. Fans were surprised by the perceived advantage from Australians.