European Cricket Council: Overview

European Cricket Council is better known as ECC and it is the international body connected with GamStop that has a huge effect on this sport. Today, we will cover all the main things you need to know about ECC. If you are interceding into cricket this is definitely a page for you. Without further ado, let’s begin.

Short History

Cricket has been played in Europe since 1793 making this one of the oldest sports and one of the most common. The first game was played by sailors led by Admiral Nelson in Italy, Naples more precisely. The first games were basic and played by amateurs, obviously. In the 19^th century, we were able to see the development of many, professional teams that soon became available across Europe. The most popular teams were in Italy and they are known as Milan Cricket club (the Milan Football club as well).

European Cricket Council was created back in 1997 or better said 24 years ago. The sole purpose of it is cricket administration and it is located in London, The United Kingdom. Keep in mind that European Cricket Council covers Wales, Ireland, and England as full members and other countries from Europe as the international body for controlling cricket. ICC European Development Officer at the moment is Richard Holdsworth and membership includes 34 associations. Don’t forget that the parental organization is ICC that stands for the International Cricket Council. It does the same thing only on the global level, across the world.

Main Features

ECC may sound like a small organization with a simple and one purpose only but it is more than that. The organization is responsible for promoting the sport among fans and encouraging European bookmakers available for gambling to integrate this sport inside their betting platforms. The goal is to make this sport more common and more popular in some areas, where this is possible but also to maintain its popularity and tradition in all countries where it is played. Many of you know that cricket has been experiencing a massive rivalry from more popular sports such as football, basketball, and many others. ECC simply makes sure that cricket stays popular as long as possible and that it maintains popularity.

ECC does this in countries that are known as full members (these are England and Ireland), associate members that have ODI and T20 status (Scotland and Netherland), and also countries with T20 countries. The latter includes many countries in Europe and the list will probably expand in the near future. Some examples we can provide are Austria, Romania, Russia, Sweden, Slovenia, Malta, Isle of Man, Norway, and many others. The past or previous members include only Switzerland. An interesting fact is that the organization works with Israel which is considered a European country.

ECC Duties

ECC has a lot of duties in its arsenal and it is important to cover all of them. The first and probably the most essential is organizing the European Cricket Championship which is known for its popularity and considered one of the most appealing championships in the world of cricket. Another, important thing we must add is that this championship is used for qualification for the ICC World Cup. Now you can see the importance.

Another duty of the ECC is to develop sports medicine programs. The complete list of actions here is a bit longer than we have the time to mention. For example, the ECC must coach, train and offer clinic programs in all countries that are members of the organization. All of the programs are also controlled by European Development Manager. This is an essential part of the organization and one of the most important aspects we had to cover.

Conclusion

European Cricket Council has a huge role in making and keeping cricket one of the best and most popular sports in Europe. They are responsible for promoting the sport managing it so it stays appealing to the fans and also safe to play. They also promote and maintain clinics for helping the athletes when needed.

The organization covers most countries in Europe and it is a part of a global organization that covers the entire world. Both of these are focused on and related to cricket only. They do not affect other sports.