The ICC through the years.

1907 to 1963: the Imperial Cricket Conference

The ICC traces its start to a letter. On 30 November 1907 Abe Bailey, President of the South African Cricket Association, wrote to F.E. Lacey, Secretary of the MCC, proposing an "Imperial Cricket Board" to govern matches between England, Australia and South Africa.

On 15 June 1909 representatives of the three countries met at Lord's under the MCC President, the Earl of Chesterfield, and agreed to hold a triangular Test tournament. Both the ICC and the MCC date the founding meeting to that day. About a month later, in July 1909, a second meeting chaired by Lord Harris set up the Imperial Cricket Conference and agreed rules for Tests between the three. The ICC says the body was set on its way at that second meeting.

The Triangular Tournament was held in England in 1912, and the ICC says it was not a success, blaming poor weather and the absence of Australia's leading players. The MCC says the Conference was largely an extension of the MCC until the late 1920s, with the MCC President always its chairman and the MCC Secretary its secretary.

A meeting in 1921 dealt mainly with eight-ball overs. In 1926 delegates from the West Indies, New Zealand and India were invited, and a meeting at The Oval that summer defined members as the governing bodies of Empire countries that sent teams to England or received English ones. The ICC dates the first Tests of the three new members to 1928 (West Indies), 1929-30 (New Zealand) and 1932 (India). Pakistan was admitted on 28 July 1952 and played its first Test that October. South Africa left the Commonwealth in May 1961, ceased to be eligible, and sent only an observer to that summer's meeting; its story is on South Africa: isolation and return.

1964 to 1988: the International Cricket Conference

In 1964 Pakistan proposed admitting countries that did not play Tests. At the July 1965 meeting the body became the International Cricket Conference and admitted its first Associate members: the USA, Ceylon and Fiji. The ICC's history goes on:

• 1966: the Netherlands, Denmark, Bermuda and East Africa join as Associates; the same meeting redefines a "throw".
• 1971: voting set at two votes for each full member and one for each Associate; a World Cup is first raised.
• 1973: a 60-overs-a-side World Cup in England in 1975 approved, inviting the six Test countries plus East Africa and Sri Lanka.
• 1974 to 1978: Argentina, Israel and Singapore (1974), West Africa (1976), Bangladesh (1977) and Papua New Guinea (1978) become Associates. World Series Cricket dominates the ICC's business in 1978.
• 1981: Sri Lanka raised to full membership in July; its first Test follows in February 1982.
• 1984: a third tier, Affiliate, approved, with Italy the first Affiliate.

On the World Cup the MCC's account differs: its Father Time Wall says the Conference agreed in 1972 to hold the 1975 tournament, where the ICC's own history says it was approved in 1973.

1989 onward: the International Cricket Council

The ICC's own history page says the body was renamed the International Cricket Council in July 1989, keeping its initials, with Colin Cowdrey elected chairman and the new body able to make decisions binding on its members. One Wikipedia article gives 1987 for the new name; this site follows the ICC's own page. The same year, a special meeting agreed rules that in effect barred from Test cricket any player with sporting links to South Africa.

• January 1991: the first meeting outside England, in Melbourne, where independent match referees to enforce a proposed Code of Conduct were discussed.
• July 1991: South Africa readmitted as a full member, and the ban on players with South African links revoked.
• October 1992: Zimbabwe, admitted as a full member, plays its first Test.
• 1993: David Richards becomes the first Chief Executive, ending the MCC Secretary's role in running the ICC; that July Sir Clyde Walcott becomes the first chairman from outside Britain.
• March 1997: a meeting in Kuala Lumpur makes the ICC an incorporated body with a President, the first being Jagmohan Dalmiya of India. The Duckworth-Lewis method is first trialled in ODIs the same year.
• April 1999: a Code of Conduct Commission under Lord Griffiths, followed by an Anti-Corruption Unit; see match-fixing and official findings.
• 2000: Bangladesh gains Test status.
• 2002 and 2004: a full-time panel of eight elite umpires is created (2002), and the Intercontinental Cup begins (March 2004).
• 2005: the ICC leaves Lord's for new headquarters in Dubai (August 2005, per the ICC; the MCC also records the move), and the International Women's Cricket Council agrees to merge with the ICC.
• 2016: Shashank Manohar becomes the first independent Chairman.
• 22 June 2017: the Full Council, meeting at The Oval, admits Ireland and Afghanistan as Full Members and removes the Affiliate category, leaving Full and Associate Members.
• 15 July 2026: by the ICC's count, Mauritius is approved as its 111th member.

Test status by year

The ICC's 20th-century page gives 1930 for New Zealand and its ICC-history page gives the 1929-30 season; the two fit together, since the 1929-30 season ran into 1930, though neither page gives the month. The ICC as it is now, with its leadership and members, is described on the ICC.