Organisers for the LA Games have proposed a six-team event, but no firm decision has been made on the number of teams, or how they will qualify. Cricket has only featured once in the Olympic Games and has thrived as a sport in the intervening century without being part of the Olympic Movement. There is no doubt that shared values and sporting objectives make the ICC and IOC natural partners, but would cricket fit naturally back into the Olympic Games? However, at the Paris Games in 1900, Great Britain, Belgium, Holland and France were scheduled to participate in the Games. Overall, it’s looking very positive and 2028 could be the point when we see cricket return to the Olympic Games for the first time in 128 years.
Cricket in the Olympics? 2028 Games will feature sport for the first time in a century
But it is up to the powers that be in the game of cricket to put all of their energy behind one format and make their strongest case to the IOC. For instance, many of the world’s elite cricketers play in the Indian Premier League and similar organizations where they are paid handsome sums to put their skills on display. Area, said the sport is growing in popularity in the U.S. in part due to immigration trends. Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee, called it a “win-win situation.” Softball, the Olympics’ equivalent sport for women, made its debut on the 1996 programme in Atlanta but has also been omitted from next summer’s Olympics. The United States is co-hosting the men’s T20 World Cup with the West Indies in June 2024 and is set to field a side as host nation at the LA Games.
- Although one of the primary objectives of the Olympics is to promote peace and goodwill through sport and competition, there is a lot of jockeying behind closed doors for power and recognition.
- Overall, it’s looking very positive and 2028 could be the point when we see cricket return to the Olympic Games for the first time in 128 years.
- This is one of the reasons why the Commonwealth Games is a more suitable host for cricket.
- Similarly, while there is an England team competing in test cricket as a full member of the ICC, this would have to change at the Olympics.
- However, it seems to have done no good for the sport, when it comes to being a part of Olympics.
Kohli played 125 T20s for India, scoring 4,188 runs at an average of 48.69, hitting one century and 38 half-centuries. Kohli retired from T20 duty with India after they won the World Cup in 2024, but will continue to play the format domestically in the Indian Premier League (IPL). India batter Virat Kohli has ruled out a T20 international comeback at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.
This is a stumbling block as far as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) are concerned and one that needed to be overcome. As the host nation, Great Britain were somewhat obliged to field a listen to this podcast team in the men’s soccer section and the squad selected contained players from across the British Isles. A Great Britain cricket team may be a medal contender but it would largely be made up of English players and that’s not ideal for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Paris served as the host city for the 1900 summer games and cricket was among the sports being contested but an original field consisting of a paltry four countries was whittled down to only two. More than a century after its only prior Olympic appearance, at the 1900 Summer Games in Paris, the sport is officially back on the program for the Los Angeles Games, with six men’s teams and six women’s teams set to compete in 2028. For diehard fans in cricket-crazed countries such as India and Pakistan, it’s an exciting move that feels long overdue.
Competing with other sports which don’t have to contend with multiple formats works as a disadvantage for cricket’s inclusion at the Olympics as well. Various reasons, including the fact that is not played by the majority of the nations around the world, prevented cricket from being played at the Olympics ever again. One reason why cricket has landed on the IOC radar relates to the introduction of T20 cricket.
Factors working against cricket’s inclusion
The game complicates the laws slightly with 5 and 10 ball overs but the basis rules of cricket and how a team can score runs remains the same. The T20 form of the game is a perfect fit for the objectives of the modern Olympics. Cricket authorities have been aware of that and they have pushed cricket’s cause for a while but there has been a stumbling block. The Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) has been a dissenting voice and they have some personal reasons for doing this. Since then, the sport has been overlooked but there is speculation that this situation may change in the future.
Although cricket has a global fan following, the sport has failed to make a mark in countries which dominate the Olympics. The host nations, also being non-cricketing countries, hasn’t helped the sports’ cause to get an inclusion in the prestigious quadrennial event. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, twenty20 international cricket matches are far more inclusive than the other two main formats. At the start of 2021, no fewer than 73 countries had full international status including the likes of Malawi, Iran, Gibraltar, Greece, Luxembourg and Romania. T20 cricket is the shortest version of the game played internationally, involving each team batting for twenty overs only.
The announcement of the five new proposed sports followed discussions between LA and the IOC’s Olympic program commission, with the sports expected to be formally confirmed by LA, and then officially ratified at the 141st IOC session in Mumbai on Sunday. The lack of competing nations and the one-sided affair did not bode well for further inclusion in the Olympic Games, and it has not been seen on the Olympic program again. Cricket has only been part of the Olympic Games once previously, back in 1900, but the stars of the game will now be able to dream of winning a gold medal at the XXXIV Olympiad. “To have the opportunity to showcase our great sport at the LA28 Games and hopefully many Olympic Games to come will be great for players and fans alike. “We are thrilled that cricket’s inclusion in the LA28 Olympic Games has been confirmed by the IOC Session today,” ICC Chairman Greg Barclay said.
While the game might eventually gain popularity with many nations beginning to embrace the sport, the current scenario is still quite discouraging for new nations entering the fray of international cricket. The solitary game was played between Great Britain and France with the British team winning the gold medal. Originally, Belgium and the Netherlands were also set to compete but both nations withdrew.
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It’s a short format, lasting just a few hours and there are far more countries playing this format at the highest international level. One final hurdle standing in the way of cricket’s entry into the Olympics also rests with the Indian cricket boards. In the past, the game’s governing body in India has been reluctant to work with the drugs agency NADA.