ICC criiio Day: grassroots cricket hits one million players, half female
By Aarav DeshpandeSports Correspondent, Peepals Yuva
Representative image: yogendras31 / Pixabay
The ICC marked its first criiio Day on 1 November 2026 after its grassroots cricket programme reached one million players, with a 50:50 gender split.
What Happened
The International Cricket Council (ICC) held the first criiio Day on Sunday, 1 November 2026, to celebrate its grassroots cricket programme reaching one million participants. The ICC announced the new annual day on Friday, 30 October 2026. The programme's one-millionth player is Saidat Hamzat, a 13-year-old from Lagos State in Nigeria. Since it began in 2021, criiio has been run in 65 of the ICC's Associate Member countries, and all 12 Full Members have certified criiio trainers. The ICC says participants are split evenly between girls and boys, women and men. The day was marked with a global social media campaign under the hashtag #criiioDay.
Key Facts
- Event: the first criiio Day, an annual celebration of grassroots cricket, held on 1 November 2026.
- Announcement: Friday, 30 October 2026, by the ICC.
- Milestone: one million participants since the programme began in 2021.
- One-millionth player: Saidat Hamzat, 13, from Lagos State, Nigeria.
- Reach: national programmes in 65 ICC Associate Members; certified criiio trainers in all 12 Full Members.
- Gender: a 50:50 split among the one million participants, according to the ICC.
- Format: a free, adaptable entry-level curriculum available in 18 languages.
- The three letter "i"s in the name stand for the stumps of a wicket, which also links to the date, 1 November.
Why It Matters
For young people, the first step into a sport is often the hardest. Cricket can seem to need expensive kit, a proper pitch and a coach. criiio is the ICC's answer: a simple, free programme that lets children and adults play short, adapted versions of the game in a school yard, a park or a street, with materials in 18 languages.
The headline number is less important than who it reaches. The one-millionth player is a 13-year-old from Nigeria, far from cricket's traditional strongholds. And the ICC says half of all participants are girls and women. That is a very different picture from the traditional image of cricket, and suggests that grassroots programmes can open the sport to people who never had a way in.
For India, the programme matters in a different way. The Board of Control for Cricket in India is one of the 12 Full Members with certified criiio trainers. Programmes like this can help girls in towns and villages who may not have access to academies to take up the game.
An annual day also gives schools, clubs and coaches a fixed date to organise games and invite new players, which can keep the momentum going each year rather than relying on one-off campaigns.
Peepals calculation: With a 50:50 split, about 500,000 of the one million participants are girls and women (half of 1,000,000). Since the programme began in 2021, that works out to an average of roughly 200,000 new players a year over about five years (1,000,000 divided by 5). Our calculation from the reported figures; the ICC has not published yearly totals.
| Figure | Number |
|---|---|
| Total participants | 1,000,000 |
| Girls and women (50%) | about 500,000 |
| Associate Members running national programmes | 65 |
| Full Members with certified trainers | 12 |
| Languages of the curriculum | 18 |
Impact
Short-term: Cricket boards, schools and clubs around the world used the first criiio Day to run sessions and share stories online.
Long-term: A yearly fixed date and a free curriculum could steadily widen the base of young players, especially girls and players in countries new to cricket.
Who is affected: Children and beginners taking up cricket, coaches and teachers, national cricket boards, and girls in places where the sport has been largely male.
What to watch next: criiio Day returns every year on 1 November.
Key Takeaway
The ICC's first criiio Day on 1 November 2026 marked one million grassroots cricket players, half of them girls and women, with a 13-year-old from Nigeria as the millionth.
Questions and Answers
What is criiio Day?
It is an annual celebration of grassroots cricket launched by the ICC, held every year on 1 November. The first was on 1 November 2026.
Who is the one-millionth criiio player?
Saidat Hamzat, a 13-year-old from Lagos State in Nigeria.
How many people play criiio cricket?
The ICC says its criiio programme has reached one million participants since it began in 2021, with an equal split between female and male players.
Is criiio available in India?
Yes. All 12 ICC Full Members, which include India, have certified criiio trainers, and the free curriculum is available in 18 languages.
Disclaimer: Prepared by the Peepals newsroom from publicly available sources with AI assistance. Information is accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication and may change. Images may be representative. Not professional advice. Report an error via our contact page.
By Aarav Deshpande, Sports CorrespondentCovers Sports and more for Peepals Yuva. All stories by Aarav Deshpande
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Aarav Deshpande is a pen name of the Peepals Global Editorial Team, which researches, fact-checks and publishes every story. The portrait is an illustration.
