Celebrating a century for the ICC

ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat looks back at some of the highlights of the ICC's centenary year celebrations

It was fascinating to see the Catch the Spirit flag go full circle after arriving in Australia ready for the Test match in Sydney at the start of the New Year. The flag began its journey in Sydney on 2 January 2009 and has since travelled the globe collecting signatures during the ICC's Centenary. It is a symbol of the values and Great Spirit which underpins our Great Sport. This was just one highlight of the grand celebrations during 2009.

ICC members across the world held 'Catch the Spirit' events to showcase the history and spirit of the sport in their own way. There was a Beach Cricket Festival in Vina Del mar, Chile; the 'Europa Cup', celebrating girls' cricket in Munich, Germany; a centenary gala day in Cameroon; a sixes tournament in Papua New Guinea, plus plenty more events across the ICC's 104 Members. One of the standout 'Catch the Spirit' activities has to be the unique promotional video produced by the Cricket Association of Nepal with the Nepal Tourism Board called Mero Desh Pyaro Nepal (My Country, Lovely Nepal). It is a superb illustration of how the game is supported widely and passionately in diverse communities. The spirit of cricket really does stretch right across the globe.

Perhaps the legacy by which the Centenary will be remembered will be the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame which was launched in association with the international players' association (FICA). During the course of the year, presentations were made to legends of the game, formally inducting them into the Hall of Fame, which now includes both inaugural inductees based on FICA's Hall of Fame, plus five newly announced greats which were selected through a comprehensive and robust process ahead of the LG ICC Awards in September 2009. I was delighted to be involved in the presentation parties for a few of these awards where I saw just how much the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame cap meant to the game's greats. The likes of Sir Richard Hadlee, Graeme Pollock and Sir Viv Richards were thrilled to be honoured in this way. The Hall of Fame has now become a focal point to recognise the legends of the game and will continue to grow in the years ahead.

The Centenary has also provided an opportunity to recognise some of the game's unsung heroes, the people who are instrumental to the running of our Great Sport. The ICC Centenary Medal has been awarded to 1000 special volunteers selected by our Members who have demonstrated exceptional commitment and have gone beyond the call of duty in serving the game. I hope that the medal will be seen as a symbol of our gratitude and acknowledgement of the devotion that volunteers around the world give to our Great Sport.

The ICC has also extended its social responsibility programmes during the centenary. We have established THINK WISE with the global cricket AIDS partnership (UNAIDS, UNICEF and the Global Media AIDS Initiative) to build on our long term commitment to raise awareness and reduce the stigma sometimes associated with HIV in cricket playing countries. This has included the launch of the first THINK WISE community project in collaboration with loveLife in South Africa which aims to use the popularity and power of cricket to help reduce HIV infection rates in high risk areas. In all these initiatives I am grateful for the willing contributions of many icon players.

The ICC has also embarked on promoting peace through cricket with a number of projects being set up across the Asia sub-continent as a result of the successful initiative we launched at the ICC World Twenty20 2009. The first of these projects will involve training former child soldiers in Sri Lanka with the skills to become peer cricket leaders in their home communities. This programme was shortlisted for the Peace and Sport Annual Awards 2009 and I look forward to seeing it develop in years to come and illustrate how cricket can be a force for good across the globe. All of these social initiatives are an integral part of the ICC's vision to "captivate and inspire people?.while building bridges between continents, countries and communities".

2009 was also a special year at the highest level of our Great Sport. I would like to congratulate the England women's team on winning the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup and the ICC World Twenty20, Pakistan for taking the honours in the men's ICC World Twenty20 and Australia for successfully defending its ICC Champions Trophy title. There was of course also fascinating Test match cricket during the Ashes contest, while India ended the year at the top of the Reliance Mobile ICC Test Rankings. There is plenty of cricket to look forward to in 2010 with the ICC Under19 Cricket World Cup in New Zealand around the corner and the ICC World Twenty20 2010 in the Caribbean a few months later.

There were also a series of memorable events in the Pepsi ICC Development Programme, with Pepsi ICC World Cricket League events in locations as diverse as Buenos Aires, Guernsey and Singapore, as well as regional tournaments held in five continents across the world.

I would like to thank ICC staff, members and cricket fans around the world for making 2009 a special year for cricket. I now look forward to 2010 and beyond as we continue to build a Great Sport with Great Spirit.