Wikipedia:WikiProject Cricket/Notability

Individuals

This is the expanded detail of the agreed guidelines, that are summarised in the Cricket section of the Notability (sports) guidelines.

WikiProject Cricket participants have adopted the following guidelines for notability of cricket people, men's and women's cricket having equal importance, to qualify as the subject of an article in Wikipedia:

• has appeared as a player in at least one cricket match that is judged to have been played at the highest international or domestic level.
• has appeared as a player for an Associate team in a Twenty20 International match after 1 July 2018 (women) or 1 January 2019 (men) in either a T20 World Cup (men or women) or Global Qualifier (men or women).
• has appeared prior to 2005 as a player in an ICC Trophy final, or has appeared since 2005 in at least one match in any of the ICC World Cup Qualifier, Women's Cricket World Cup Qualifier, ICC Men's T20 World Cup Qualifier and ICC Women's T20 World Cup Qualifier competitions.
• has appeared as an umpire on the Elite Panel of ICC Umpires or meets another point of WP:NCRIC.

Certain competitions and matches aren't deemed to have been played at the highest international or domestic level. A full list of them can be found here. Players and umpires that have played in or officiated in other first-class, List A, T20 and T20I matches and competitions that are deemed not likely to lead to presumed notability for those participating may still be notable if they can be shown to pass the wider requirements of WP:GNG.

Please note that the failure to meet these criteria does not mean an article must be deleted; conversely, the meeting of any of these criteria does not mean that an article must be kept. These are merely rules of thumb which some editors choose to keep in mind when deciding whether or not to keep an article that is on articles for deletion. But, the terms of WP:ATHLETE and WP:ORG are binding and these must be quoted if difficulty arises in an AfD discussion.

Highest International and Domestic Levels

Further information: WP:OFFCRIC

The "highest international or domestic level" qualification includes any player (both men and women) who has appeared in a Test match since 1877; in a One Day International since 1971; in a Twenty20 International between 2005–2019 (men) or between 2005–June 2018 (women); in a Twenty20 International for an Associate team after 1 January 2019 (men) or 1 July 2018 (women) in either a T20 World Cup (men or women) or Global Qualifier (men or women); or in any senior domestic competition as listed in this list.

Full Member Status & Associate teams

The following nations have Full member status for both men and women: Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Zimbabwe.

Full member nations are those that play matches that have Test cricket status and are also automatically qualified for One-Day International and Twenty20 International status.

Associate members are those countries that are firmly established and organised, but don't qualify for full member status. There are 92 Associate members and a list of them can be found here. As of 1 July 2018 in the women's game and 1 January 2019 in the men's game all associate nations have Twenty20 International status.

Some Associate members also have One-Day International status, awarded due to good performance in the World Cricket League. The Associate members with ODI status are: Namibia (awarded 2019), Nepal (2018), Netherlands (2018), Oman (2019), Papua New Guinea (2019), Scotland (2018), United Arab Emirates (2018) and the United States (2019).

Domestic cricket

Senior domestic first-class, List A and Twenty20 competitions that are deemed likely to lead to presumed notability for men's and women's cricketers can be found here. These are competitions deemed to have been played at the highest domestic level. Senior individual matches (i.e., played outside organised competitions) are those shown to be important, especially if historically significant, by secondary sources.

The term first-class cricket can be confusing. It was formally defined in 1947 as:

A match of three or more days' duration between two sides of eleven players officially adjudged first-class, shall be regarded as a first-class fixture. Matches in which either team have more than eleven players or which are scheduled for less than three days shall not be regarded as first-class. The Governing body in each country shall decide the status of teams.

Certain matches before the formal definition are also classified as first-class matches, but discretion on matches before 1947 being first-class matches was given to the governing bodies of each specific country that's a member of the International Cricket Council (ICC).

The categorisation of matches as List A matches wasn't officially endorsed by the ICC until 2006, but again like first-class cricket discretion on determining match classification for historical matches was given to the governing bodies of each specific country. The first List A match is now accepted to have occurred in 1963. Twenty20 cricket was classified in 2003 at the beginning of the format and there has been no problems with classification of historic matches because of this.

Non-playing figures

Non-players who have made a notable contribution to cricket can have articles if they can be shown to pass the wider requirements of WP:GNG. These include umpires, patrons, benefactors, administrators, coaches, writers, broadcasters, historians and so on. With these, it is important to ensure that the article's introduction outlines the person's notability in terms of his or her contribution to the sport. Non-players must have earned notability in their own right. They are not notable if they are only a member of a club or if the club is notable

Clubs, individual matches, teams, tours and venues

All clubs and teams taking part in senior cricket matches are automatically qualified under the conditions of WP:N and WP:ORG; as are venues used in such matches. Difficulty may arise with clubs that have not competed at senior level and, similarly, with venues that have not staged first-class, List A matches or Twenty20 matches. WP:CRIC has decided that:

• for Great Britain, those clubs that have competed in the Minor Counties Cricket Championship or are included in the List of English and Welsh cricket league clubs do meet the notability requirements. The essence of the latter group is that the clubs belong to one of the Lancashire League, the Central Lancashire Cricket League or one of the ECB Premier Leagues.
• for Australia, clubs that have played at Grade cricket level—the highest level below the state representative team—meet notability requirements. These are the actual clubs to which Australian international players belong. State and national teams are representative selections.
• for Ireland, those clubs that are competing or have competed in the top division of one of the three provincial leagues: the Leinster Senior League, the NCU Senior League or the North West Senior League.

Re a venue (aka ground), WP:CRIC has agreed that its regular usage by a notable club ensures its own notability per se. Beyond a purely cricketing outlook, a venue is a recognised named site with a fixed geographic location and established community associations of a permanent nature which themselves ensure notability.

Tours - not sure what to do here.

General

Finally, please keep in mind that the article in question must actually document that the criterion is true. It is not enough to make vague claims in the article, talk page or AfD page. The article itself must document notability, and preferably in the lead. For example, the introductory text of a biography must make clear that the subject is an important, first-class or List A cricketer. It is also recommended, but in no way compulsory, that articles include references to more than database sources such as CricketArchive or ESPNcricinfo. This will help greatly in understanding the WP:V of an article.

Clubs, teams and venues

Following on from the above, all clubs and teams taking part in senior cricket matches are automatically qualified under the conditions of WP:N and WP:ORG; as are venues used in such matches. Difficulty may arise with clubs that have not competed at senior level and, similarly, with venues that have not staged first-class or List A matches. "Minor cricket" is a specific term in the sport that does not necessarily imply a lack of notability; in parallel with sports like association football and baseball, many cricket clubs in "minor leagues" are professionally run and do employ professional players. It is necessary to take an individual view about each country in terms of its own grassroots structure. WP:CRIC has decided that:

• for Great Britain, those clubs that have competed in the Minor Counties Cricket Championship or are included in the List of English and Welsh cricket league clubs do meet the notability requirements. The essence of the latter group is that the clubs belong to one of the Lancashire League, the Central Lancashire Cricket League or one of the ECB Premier Leagues.
• for Australia, clubs that have played at Grade cricket level—the highest level below the state representative team—meet notability requirements. These are the actual clubs to which Australian international players belong. State and national teams are representative selections.
• for Ireland, those clubs that are competing or have competed in the top division of one of the three provincial leagues: the Leinster Senior League, the NCU Senior League or the North West Senior League.

Re a venue (aka ground), WP:CRIC has agreed that its regular usage by a notable club ensures its own notability per se. Beyond a purely cricketing outlook, a venue is a recognised named site with a fixed geographic location and established community associations of a permanent nature which themselves ensure notability.

General

Please note that the failure to meet these criteria does not mean an article must be deleted; conversely, the meeting of any of these criteria does not mean that an article must be kept. These are merely rules of thumb which some editors choose to keep in mind when deciding whether or not to keep an article that is on articles for deletion. But, the terms of WP:ATHLETE and WP:ORG are binding and these must be quoted if difficulty arises in an AfD discussion.

Finally, please keep in mind that the article in question must actually document that the criterion is true. It is not enough to make vague claims in the article or rant about a person's importance on a talk page or AfD page: the article itself must document notability, and preferably in the lead. For example, the introductory text of a biography must make clear that the subject is an important, first-class or List A cricketer.

N.B.: Judge notability by reference to a substantial secondary source that makes clear it is discussing a senior player, team, venue or match in historical rather than statistical terms.