Emirates Cricket Board Wins Three ICC Development Awards in Landmark Year for UAE Cricket

The Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) emerged as one of the biggest winners at the ICC Development Awards 2025, claiming three global honours in recognition of its efforts to expand the game and drive the growth of women's cricket across the United Arab Emirates. The awards were presented during the ICC Annual Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, which concluded last weekend, with this year's winners selected from regional nominees announced in June across seven categories spanning development and participation, female cricket initiatives, team performances, digital engagement, and social impact.

Development Initiative of the Year

The ECB's first honour was the Marriott Bonvoy ICC Development Initiative of the Year, awarded in recognition of its landmark Girls U15 Academy League. The first initiative of its kind in the region, the league featured 10 teams from Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah playing over a five-month period, and was credited by the ICC with delivering impact far beyond the boundary — creating opportunity, inclusion, and belief for young girls who previously had limited access to organised competitive sport.

Female Cricket Initiative of the Year

For the second consecutive year, the Emirates ICC Female Cricket Initiative of the Year award was shared by two countries, with the Emirates Cricket Board and Türkiye Cricket jointly collecting the honour. In the UAE, the legacy of hosting the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024 inspired a nationwide movement to grow girls' cricket through the Interschool criiio Gulf Cup and the ECB's Get into Cricket – Girls Only programme, which took the sport into schools, communities, and emirates where opportunities for girls had previously been limited or non-existent. Türkiye was recognised for delivering the largest ICC Women's Cricket Week celebration in Europe, involving more than 3,000 girls from 20 provinces.

Women's Team Performance of the Year

Completing the hat-trick, the ECB received the ICC Associate Member Women's Team Performance of the Year award after the UAE women's team made history against Zimbabwe. Competing in their first-ever series in the 50-over format after gaining ODI status, the UAE played out a 2-2 draw in the four-match series before winning the subsequent T20I series 2-0 — securing a maiden bilateral series victory over a higher-ranked Full Member nation on foreign soil.

"A Massive Encouragement"

ECB Board Member Zayed Abbas described the awards as a major boost for everyone involved in UAE cricket. "These awards are a massive encouragement for the Emirates Cricket Board management, officials, players and support staff. We want to thank the International Cricket Council for creating this opportunity and recognition for Associate Members who overcome big challenges to deliver such initiatives," he said, adding that thousands of girls are now playing cricket across the country's schools and academy programmes, creating "a solid foundation to work on for the years ahead."

Looking ahead, Abbas said the board has set its sights on maximising the momentum by investing further in development programmes while securing continued exposure for the national team against top international opposition. "Our participation in the ACC Women's Asia Cup 2026 will be a massive opportunity for the players, and we have also set our eyes on the ICC Women's T20 and ODI World Cup qualification," he said.

Backed by a World Cup Legacy Fund

The UAE's success has been supported by structured investment from the game's governing body. Following the country's hosting of the Women's T20 World Cup in 2024, the ICC created a legacy fund of roughly $200,000 for the UAE, through which various development programmes and events were delivered in partnership with the ECB — including 15 criiio Festivals across the country and the expansion of the Get into Girls Cricket programme from two venues to five. ICC Chairman Jay Shah congratulated the winners, saying the awards celebrate "the extraordinary work being delivered by our Associate Members around the world."

Other Global Winners

Elsewhere at the awards, Federazione Cricket Italiana took the ICC Associate Member Men's Team Performance of the Year for Italy's historic qualification for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026, sealed with an upset win over Scotland in the decisive Europe Qualifier match in Rotterdam. The Japan Cricket Association was recognised for Digital Fan Engagement, Brazil's Confederação Brasileira de Cricket won the Cricket 4 Good Social Impact honour, and the Nigeria Cricket Federation was also among the global winners.