Report on Turkey joining the ICC

Turkey joins the cricketing world
Today's Zaman: July 9, 2008

Turkey has been accepted into the world cricket family after being voted in on July 4 as an affiliate member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) at the ICC Annual Conference 2008 held in Dubai.

The acceptance of Turkey into the ICC means that Turkish national teams will now be able to take part in European competitions and will now receive funding and support from the ICC to help continue to develop and grow the game. After years of hard graft, news of Turkey being accepted brought a smile to the face of Syed Mahmud, one of the prime movers in getting cricket in Turkey off the ground. "This news brings a great feeling of joy and accomplishment to all of us who have worked so hard," Mahmud said.

"The real challenge now is to generate local interest in the game," Mahmud stated. "It is important that we establish a proper cricket academy in Turkey. The support of the Turkish government, local sponsors and the media is vital to develop and promote the game further." Along with Turkey, Bulgaria and Estonia were also voted in as affiliate members, taking the ICC's total member count to 104.

"Cricket in Bulgaria, Estonia and Turkey has developed well over a number of years. It is therefore very pleasing that the ICC has accepted their applications and they now join the ICC family," ICC Regional Development Manager Richard Holdsworth said. "ICC affiliate membership will bring many opportunities for cricket to develop further in these countries," Holdsworth added.

Cricket in Turkey was recognized by the Turkish government in December 2006 when it became a member of Turkey's "Federation of Developing Sports.” In order to promote and develop the game of cricket, the Turkish Cricket Board was formed under this federation.

Mahmud said now that affiliate membership has been achieved, one of the main priorities is to get cricket courses started at the university level.

"Lack of funding has prevented us from doing so in the past. Now with the additional funding from the ICC, our first goal is to start these courses in 2009," Mahmud said.

Mahmud noted that cricket in Turkey until now has been a difficult affair and without the help of Professor Abdullah Atalar, vice rector of Bilkent University, as well as Dr. Hayri Özcan, director of sports at Bilkent University, cricket in Turkey may never have gotten off the ground.

There are still obstacles to overcome, Mahmud admitted; sponsors for the first-ever team to represent Turkey must be found and a proper academy to develop younger players must be established.

As for the future, Mahmud is confident that now that the ICC is a member of the International Olympic Committee there is every chance that Turkey could be represented at an Olympics in cricket in 10 years time.

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