Prison project, street child initiative lands Mexico ICC Award

The Mexico Cricket Association were announced as the winner of the ICC (International Cricket Council) Development Initiative of the Year Award.

The honour comes ahead of the ICC Annual Conference to be held in Colombo from Friday.

“Mexico were acknowledged for pioneering multiple projects, including sending a team to the Street Child Cricket World Cup in India, and for their unique Cricket in Prisons programme, in which they deliver sessions in prisons across Mexico City to enhance the rehabilitation of inmates,” said a statement from the ICC.

Chairman of the Mexico cricket body Ben Owen called winning the award “a huge honour” for his country, as they continue growing the game in Central America.

“It is first and foremost a truly meaningful recognition at the highest level, that our volunteers who have put in so many hours are both valued and respected,” he said.

“It also shows our stakeholders, such as our National Sports Ministry, as well as current and future sponsors that cricket in Mexico is indeed on a huge growth trend and this recognition will accelerate conversations we are already having on multiple levels.”

“Prison projects came about through the conversations with Ministry of Sports, who like us recognised that integral values of cricket could have enormous impact on people marginalized by the society,” said Owen.

“We started a pilot project and then it grew to four prisons and now we have around 500 prisoners playing cricket per week. We want to go to national level with inter-prison tournaments, which we believe is the perfect way to reintegrate the people back into the society.”

Mexico were among the six nations crowned as ICC Development Award winners for 2023 as the world governing body of cricket acknowledged the transformative work in the Associate cricket world.

Mexico, Oman, Netherlands, United Arab Emirates, Nepal and Scotland received honours across six categories, with winners selected from a 21-nation shortlist by the ICC Development Awards Panel.

Launched in 2002, the ICC Development Awards sheds light on the world-leading work being carried out in ICC Associate Member countries to grow the game globally, whether through innovative development programmes or through inspiring efforts on the field of play.

**If you like my work, consider buying me a coffee at: www.ko-fi.com/flyslipcricket

Cricket, Mexico, America, ICC