Cricket has been played in the Netherlands since at least the 19th century, and in the 1860s was considered a major sport in the country. The sport is governed by the Royal Dutch Cricket Association. Other sports (notably football) have long since surpassed cricket in popularity amongst the Dutch but today there are around 6,500 cricketers in the Netherlands and recent developments show that cricket is growing in Netherlands. The first national association, the forerunner of today's KNCB, was formed in 1883, and the Netherlands achieved associate membership of the ICC in 1966.