Game set for shot at Olympic glory

CRICKET’S long Olympic exile could end this week when Games chiefs meet in Mumbai to finalise the programme for Los Angeles 2028.

Twenty-eight sports are confirmed on the schedule but cricket was one of five new sports formally proposed for inclusion by organisers for the Games on Monday.

The International Cricket Council’s proposal is for men’s and women’s Twenty20 competitions – the shortest form of the international game.

“We are delighted that LA28 have recommended cricket for inclusion in the Olympics,” ICC chairperson Greg Barclay said.

“While this is not the final decision, it is a very significant landmark towards seeing cricket at the Olympics for the first time in more than a century.”

If it makes the cut, it would be the first time cricket has featured since 1900, when a team from Britain beat a side representing France in Paris.

But in recent years the ICC has made clear it wants to be part of the global showpiece – a move that could turbo-charge the sport and help it exploit new markets.

“Our sport is united behind this bid and we see the Olympics as a part of cricket’s long-term future,” Barclay said in 2021.

“We have more than a billion fans globally and almost 90% of them want to see cricket at the Olympics.”

The game has had support from the highest places in the Olympic movement.

Late ICC president Jacques Rogge said in 2011: “We would welcome an application. It (cricket) is an important, popular sport and very powerful on television.”

The current president, Thomas Bach, has also backed the inclusion of cricket, which featured at last year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

This week the IOC executive board is meeting in Mumbai, ahead of a full IOC session from Sunday to Tuesday, which would effectively rubberstamp the decision.

Cricket could not have asked for a better city in which to make its case.

The IOC session is being held in one of the hotbeds of the sport as India hosts the men’s 50-over World Cup.

Adding cricket to the Olympic programme would potentially help cricket access millions in funding currently reserved for Games sports. That would benefit emerging cricket nations but could also help cash-strapped established countries such as South Africa.