More than 25,000 people have now graduated from the ICC’s Training and Education programme since its 2021 launch. Behind every great rivalry in cricket — every contest between nations, every generational battle between teams — is a pipeline of players shaped by coaches who know what they are doing. That pipeline is getting a serious upgrade.
Think about the great cricketing rivalries. The Ashes. India versus Pakistan. Australia versus South Africa. These contests are compelling precisely because the quality on both sides is high. But that quality does not appear from nowhere. Behind every Test match lineup, every national academy, every Under-19 squad competing at a World Cup, are coaches who have spent years developing players with structured knowledge, deliberate practice design, and an understanding of the technical, tactical, and psychological demands of the game. Cricket has always known this at the elite level. Now the ICC is working to make that same standard of coaching knowledge accessible to coaches at every tier of the global game.
The ICC Training and Education programme, launched in 2021 through a partnership with the EdApp micro-learning platform, has grown steadily into one of the most ambitious coach education initiatives in world sport. As of the most recent figures, more than 25,000 coaches, umpires, scorers, and pitch curators have graduated from the programme across its full suite of courses, supported by a network of ICC Master Educators and Tutors operating in 92 countries. The August 2024 launch of the Level 2 Coaching Course marked a significant step forward in the depth of the programme.
How the ICC Coaching Pathway Works
The ICC’s coaching certification structure follows a clear progression. According to the ICC Training and Education programme, entry into the pathway begins with the Foundation Certificate — an entirely online, self-paced course structured across six modules covering the basic fundamentals of cricket and what it takes to facilitate sessions for new participants. No prior coaching experience is required. Assessments at the end of each module require a pass mark of 75% before progressing.
From there, the pathway moves through Level 1, which combines online learning with in-person practical elements and leads to formal ICC coach accreditation. The Level 2 course, now available, goes deeper into technical knowledge — covering biomechanics, video analysis, skill acquisition theory, mental skills development, and strength and conditioning principles relevant to cricket. Level 2 is explicitly targeted at coaches working with players at competitive representative level, bridging the gap between developmental and high performance coaching.
At the apex sits the Level 3 qualification, based at the ICC Academy in Dubai and delivered through a combination of intensive face-to-face components and pre-course online preparation. Eligibility requires a Level 2 certificate from a recognised body, a coaching CV, and a reference letter. This is the qualification pathway designed for coaches aspiring to work in professional and elite environments.
Why Coaching Credentials Are Changing the Rivalries We Watch
The quality of a cricketing rivalry is ultimately determined by the quality of the players within it. And the quality of players is, over time, a direct reflection of the quality of coaching they receive at junior and developmental level. Investing in coaching education is investing in the future of the rivalries that make cricket worth watching.
This is particularly significant for associate and emerging nations. Countries like Nepal, where the game has grown rapidly and where the ICC programme has been enthusiastically adopted, are building coaching workforces that simply did not exist a decade ago. As more countries develop more qualified coaches, the competitive depth of international cricket at all formats and levels increases. The rivalries that defined the sport in earlier eras were shaped by a handful of dominant cricketing cultures. What is being built now has the potential to make those rivalries wider, more contested, and more compelling.
How Coaches Prepare for ICC Assessments
Each level of the ICC programme includes assessed components. The Foundation Certificate assessments test module knowledge at each stage. Level 1 and Level 2 involve both practical observation and theoretical evaluation. For coaches working toward any formal certification, approaching the assessment components with serious preparation rather than assuming familiarity with the game is sufficient makes a measurable difference.
Coaches who take a structured approach to preparation — including working through general practice test resources to build comfort with formal assessment conditions and question formats — tend to perform more consistently than those who rely on experience alone. The ICC’s assessments are designed to evaluate structured knowledge, not just intuitive coaching ability, which means the preparation mindset that works in any formal examination context applies here too.
The Bigger Picture for World Cricket
The ICC’s investment in coach education is one of the clearest signals the organisation has sent about where it believes cricket’s future lies. The game’s growth in associate nations, the rising standard of competitions like the T20 World Cup qualifier stages, and the increasing depth across formats all point toward a sport that is genuinely globalising. The coaching pathway is the infrastructure beneath that growth.
Great rivalries need great players. Great players need great coaches. And great coaches, increasingly, need documented qualifications that prove they know what they are doing. The ICC’s programme is not just a certification scheme. It is a structural investment in making cricket’s rivalries more competitive at every level.
