The International Cricket Council (ICC) has confirmed what constitutes Official Cricket, it was announced today.

The updated definitions were agreed by the ICC’s Executive Board at its recent meeting in London and have now been circulated to all ICC Full Members.

The decision to grant the top six Associate sides ODI status was a catalyst for the review, which involved extensive consultation with Full Members and representatives of the Association of Cricket Statisticians and Historians (ACS).

The main features of the new regulations are as follows:

Test, ODI and Twenty20 internationals:

– The new, broader definitions are laid out for the first time

– Clarification of which matches involving non-Full Members count as ODIs

First-class cricket:

– Offers greater clarity on official status, ruling out matches of less than three days scheduled duration or involving more than 11 players

– Spells out more clearly who decides on status of matches

– Prevents decisions being changed retrospectively other than in exceptional circumstances

Limited-over cricket:

– Formal adoption – for the first time – the ACS’s List A classification as the limited-over counterpart to first-class cricket

– Acceptance of the ACS’s past List A classifications

– ACS, on behalf of the ICC, to maintain the official record of List A matches

– Classifies Twenty20 matches separately from limited-over cricket

Women’s cricket:

– Reflects the amalgamation of the women’s game with the ICC which took place in 2005 by providing corresponding definitions for women’s cricket

David Richardson, the ICC’s General Manager – Cricket, said: “The review of the Classification of Official Cricket was very necessary and we are delighted with the results.

“The adoption of the updated regulations means that everyone, and especially the many people who maintain statistics on the game, now have a clear idea of how to categorise different matches.

“It is important to stress these regulations do not change any past decisions but they will ensure that decisions on the future status of matches will follow agreed guidelines.

“We are extremely grateful to the ACS, particularly David Kendix and Philip Bailey, for its input into this project.

“The organization performs an essential role in the cricket world by ensuring accurate records of all first-class and one-day matches are kept and available for publication.

“The ACS, together with the rest of the cricket world, will benefit from these updated classifications,” added Mr Richardson.

The updated Classification of Official Cricket regulations are available at:

http://www.icc-cricket.com/icc/rules/classification-of-official-cricket.pdf