The International Cricket Council (ICC) is targeting China as a major growth market as it pursues an ambition to add 500 million fans to cricket’s global audience, with the country’s population of approximately 1.4 billion presenting significant potential outside the sport’s traditional strongholds.
South Asia currently accounts for around 90% of cricket’s billion-plus global fan base. China has increasingly entered the ICC’s expansion plans following cricket’s inclusion at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou and the development of the country’s women’s national team.
ICC Chief Executive Sanjog Gupta told AFP: “The continued success of their women’s team has provided a major boost to cricket in the country.”
ICC invests in building cricket’s presence in China
The ICC has spent US$1.5 million on developing cricket in China over the past five years, while the country now has three top-level cricket venues.
That infrastructure includes a new 1,500-seat stadium in Taicang, which is expected to stage domestic and international cricket while also serving as a training base for China’s national teams.
The governing body has also tested potential audience demand through its major events. Selected Women’s T20 World Cup matches have been broadcast in Mandarin, while content from the final week of the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup generated 4.4 million video views in China.
China also differs from several emerging cricket markets in the composition of its playing base, with its men’s and women’s national teams largely comprising homegrown players rather than players drawn from South Asian communities.
Women’s team makes progress in global rankings
China’s women have climbed 10 places in the world rankings over the past two years and currently sit 36th in the ICC T20 rankings. The men’s team is ranked 92nd.
The women’s side was eliminated from the Asian Games in Nagoya without taking the field in its quarter-final against Bangladesh. Persistent rain left the outfield unplayable, allowing higher-ranked Bangladesh to progress to the semi-finals.
Despite the difference between China’s current rankings and cricket’s established international powers, its population and developing domestic footprint give the ICC a sizeable potential audience as it looks to broaden the sport’s geographic reach.
Indonesia joins ICC’s emerging-market opportunity
Indonesia has also been identified as a potential growth market. The country has a population of approximately 280 million, while its women’s team is ranked 23rd in T20 cricket and its men’s side sits 63rd.
Gupta added: “If even segments of the population in China and Indonesia start engaging with the sport, then they could power the next leap in the scale of cricket’s fandom.”
The two populous Asian markets could contribute to a much broader audience-growth objective being pursued by cricket’s global governing body. Gupta noted: “It can play a significant role in the sport’s ambition to add 500 million fans to its global fan base, which is the ICC chair’s stated ambition.”
The ICC has already seen another emerging cricket nation make progress on the global stage, with Italy making its Men’s T20 World Cup debut earlier in 2026. Italy defeated Nepal and also pushed England close during the tournament.
Olympic return creates another route for expansion
Cricket’s return to the Olympic Games at Los Angeles 2028 provides another platform for the sport to reach audiences beyond its established markets. Men’s and women’s T20 competitions will be contested, marking cricket’s return to the Olympics after its only previous appearance in 1900.
China’s development efforts are also set to receive support from the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), which plans to send a women’s team to the country in 2027.
MCC Director of Cricket and Operations Rob Lynch told AFP: “MCC is very pleased to be sending a women’s team for an overseas tour of China in 2027.”
The planned visit will give the MCC a direct role in efforts to increase cricket’s footprint in the market. Lynch added: “We see this tour as a huge opportunity to be able to grow the game in China.”
With investment in facilities, early digital audience indicators, improving women’s rankings and the upcoming MCC tour providing multiple avenues for development, China forms part of the ICC’s broader effort to build cricket’s audience beyond the regions that currently account for most of the sport’s global following.
