One of the challenges the 'true aficionados' of our game set themselves is uncovering every last pocket that cricket is played in.

Their work does more than provide interesting reading for the average cricket lover, the contact details are vital information for the ICC's Regional Development Officers.

Well, today, Wednesday, October 25, 2000 'Beyond The Test World' presents its first ever listing of independent countries and recognised political units where there has been CONFIRMATION that cricket is known to be played or known to have a cricketing presence. (The BTTW definition of 'cricketing presence' comes later). The list will be updated every six months.

The countries and recognised political units are listed according to their respective ICC development regions. Confirmation means first hand contact by a 'reputable' source acceptable to the page. ('Reputable' - does that disqualify the page?). Suspicions, rumours and hearsay are not regarded as acknowledged sources - no 'Six Degrees of Separation' in this list. It also does not acknowledge localised forms of cricket.

The term 'cricket presence' is used above to cover those countries where:
(1) there is an existing cricket club which has not recently taken the field (as in the Mongolia CC, which last played in 1999) or
(2) there is no actual cricket club or national association as such but there are a permanent core of enthusiasts playing the game in a rudimentary form.

'Bush lawyers' for the sake of the exercise, please refrain from challenging the definition of 'confirmation', 'cricketing presence', 'recognised political units' and 'reputable'. I have no idea of what they mean.

A big thankyou to Mahendra Mapagunaratne for information which has led to the addition of numerous countries to this list.

Please feel free to challenge any omissions, as long as you have an actual means of confirmation.

AFRICA: Botswana, Cape Verde, Egypt, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, St.Helena, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe

AMERICAS: Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Falkland Islands, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Jamaica, Mexico, Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, St.Kitts & Nevis, St.Lucia, St.Vincent & The Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks & Caicos Islands, United States of America, US Virgin Islands, Venezuela

ASIA: Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Maldives, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Yemen

EAST ASIA-PACIFIC: American Samoa, Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Cook Islands, Fiji, Hong Kong-China, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Mongolia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Norfolk Island, Papua-New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Taiwan, Tonga, Vanuatu, Vietnam

EUROPE: Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Guernsey, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Israel, Italy, Jersey, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales).