Muscat – The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced 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 Oman, 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 Initiative of the Year award recognises the outstanding development initiative delivered during the year and regional winners include Nigeria Cricket Federation, Mexico Cricket Association, Cricket PNG,  Qatar Cricket Association, and Federazione Cricket Italiana’s ‘Now Let’s Play Together!’ scheme.

Oman Cricket’s ‘Cricket4Her’ programme – an effort to redefine the landscape of women’s cricket in the country through tournaments and skill development was acknowledged in the 100% Cricket Female Cricket Initiative of the Year category alongside initiatives from Cricket Belgium, Costa Rica Cricket Federation, Japan Cricket Association and Sierra Leone Cricket Association.

Oman, who celebrated a successful year in ODI and T20I cricket were among the regional winners In the men’s performance category as well.

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.