Cricket pushes T20 towards Olympics
CRICKET is storming towards entry in the 2028 Olympics after the International Cricket Council declared its intent to invest in Twenty20 as the format to grow the game worldwide.
Following an announcement confirming the schedule for next year’s 50- over World Cup in England, the ICC confirmed it would hold a world Twenty20 tournament every two years from 2021.
ICC chief executive Dave Richardson said all 104 member countries would be given the opportunity to qualify for future T20 tournaments, with every match from January 1, 2019, to be given international status.
Currently only 18 countries can play official T20 internationals and qualify for the World T20. Richardson said opening the opportunity to other countries would help the push for Olympic inclusion.
“We are committed to growing the game and T20 is the vehicle through which we’ll do this, and removing restrictions and having all members ranked is a positive step forward,” he said.
“This decision can only help us in our move or application to the International Olympic Committee for the right to participate in the Olympics.
“It’s going to take a bit of time. The 2024 Olympics will be in Paris and 2028 in Los Angeles. We have already missed the deadline to apply to IOC through the front door to get the right to participate ( in the 2024 Olympics).
“We can’t go to Paris. But we have continued our talks with IOC and with LA in due course, hopefully by 2028 we will have cricket in the Olympics.”
Following next year’s 50over World Cup, Australia will host the next T20 World Cup in 2020. Another World T20 will replace the Champions Trophy in 2021, with a twoyear cycle of T20 World Cups to run after that, and the intro- duction of a global ranking system for all countries too.
“The T20 format we always knew was the vehicle for growing the game and transforming the game from being a sport played by a few countries to a truly global sport,” Richardson said following an ICC meeting in Kolkata.
“We have associate members ... they all play T20 cricket or shorter forms of the game. Now their games will be as important as Australia playing South Africa.”