The International Cricket Council has unveiled criiio Day, a yearly worldwide celebration of grassroots cricket, after its introductory criiio initiative surpassed one million participants since its launch in 2021.
A milestone player in Nigeria
Saidat Hamzat, a 13-year-old from Lagos State, Nigeria, became the programme’s one-millionth participant after a criiio Festival took place at her school.
- Hamzat said cricket had brought her “purpose, discipline and joy” and had changed her life.
- Her mother, Aisha Abeke Hamzat, said she hopes to watch her daughter represent Nigeria in the future.
criiio Day to be held on 1 November
The ICC will stage criiio Day annually on 1 November. The 1.11 date is intended to reflect the three letter “i” characters in criiio, representing the stumps and bails of a cricket wicket.
ICC Members have been invited to post their own criiio experiences and stories on social media using the hashtag #criiioDay.
ICC chief executive Sanjog Gupta said the programme had made a transformative difference during its first five years. He also pointed to cricket’s return to the Olympic programme at LA28 as a major chance to introduce millions more children around the world to the game.
Global reach and growing participation
The free criiio programme is offered in 18 languages. National schemes are operated by 65 ICC Associate Members, while each of the 12 Full Members has certified criiio coaches. Participation is evenly divided between girls and boys.
- Africa has generated more than 400,000 players, the highest total of any continent.
- Brazil is the leading individual country, with close to 200,000 participants.
- Bhutan has also exceeded 100,000 players.
National pathways and equipment support
In Tanzania, the programme has been tailored into Chanzo Cricket, a Swahili-language version of criiio. The Tanzanian government has designated cricket as a priority sport across all 3,542 secondary schools, with Chanzo Cricket set to support the nationwide implementation.
With backing from official global logistics partner DP World, the ICC has supplied roughly 5,000 cricket kits through the criiio scheme.
Players reaching representative teams
Several young participants have already moved into national-team pathways.
- Luna Olivera, 14, entered the sport through a community initiative in 2023 and was picked for Argentina’s Women’s Under-19 side in 2026.
- Nigeria’s Chisom Mary Okpe began at a school-based session in 2025 before progressing to the Nigeria Under-19 team. She may play at next year’s ICC Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup.
