THE ICC will be hosting an orgy of nostalgia at their cricket history conference in Oxford this week, and certainly tradition is a trump card in the battle of wits with the Twenty20 money men because even the Indian Premier League marketing puffs have highlighted Test pedigree to stress the quality of players.

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The ICC have stressed the primacy of Test cricket more than once, but making logical decisions in the face of the huge payments on offer to players, by the Indian Premier League for example, is no easy matter. Divided loyalty is nothing new; a raft of players were prepared to desert the ICC family for relatively large fees in the Kerry Packer tournaments in Australia in the 1970s and to tour South Africa behind the apartheid curtain in the 1980s.

The ICC began as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 with only three members – Australia, England and South Africa -- and a century later the organisation has 104 members. The development over those 100 years will be charted by a host of experts in the Nissan Institute at St Antony’s College on Wednesday July 22 and Thursday.

Leading administrators, players, academics, historians and statisticians gather for reflection as part of the ICC’s centenary celebrations. The ICC's president David Morgan said: "One of the key themes of the ICC’s centenary year is tradition, to use 2009 as an opportunity to look back at the game’s rich history. The history conference should be a fantastic occasion."

Former ICC president Ehsan Mani and the organisation’s first chief executive David Richards will come together to reflect upon the big issues they had to deal with during their times at the helm of the global game long before the advent of the 20-overs explosion. And ex-international greats Bishan Bedi, Angus Fraser, Sourav Ganguly, Clive Lloyd and Bob Willis will assess how the game has changed since they began their careers.

Other contributors include Sir Hilary Beckles, the Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Principal and Professor of Economic and Social History of the University of the West Indies, Brian Stoddart, the former Vice-Chancellor of La Trobe University, Australia, Boria Majumdar, of the University of Central Lancashire, Don Neely, the president of New Zealand Cricket, and leading journalists and cricket historians Mihir Bose, David Frith and Gideon Haigh.

Women’s cricket past and present will be represented by former England captain Rachael Heyhoe-Flint, who lifted the inaugural women’s world cup in 1973, as well as current captain Charlotte Edwards and her team-mate Ebony Rainford-Brent. MCC curator Adam Chadwick will talk about the importance of cricket heritage and perpetuating the game’s legacy, and David Kendix and Rob Eastaway, two of the men behind the Reliance Mobile ICC team and player rankings respectively, will explain how statistics and rankings allow comparisons across history.

To bring the conference right up to date, it will also be attended by current ICC president David Morgan and chief executive Haroon Lorgat, as well as ICC director and ECB chairman Giles Clarke and ECB chief executive David Collier.

Looking ahead to the conference, Morgan said: "One of the key themes of the ICC’s centenary year is tradition, to use 2009 as an opportunity to look back at the game’s rich history, to honour past greats and recognise milestones. We are honouring those past greats through the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in association with the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations, recognising the achievements of the great players who have graced the game.

"And the ICC History Conference will be an opportunity for administrators past and present, as well as players, journalists, academics, historians and statisticians to come together and reflect on the events of the past 100 years. It should be a fantastic occasion and a highlight of the ICC centenary year."

Limited space is available for anyone wishing to attend. Media and public must register by email at history@icc-cricket.com .