ICC targets 2028 LA Olympics for cricket's inclusion

Bengaluru, August 10: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has confirmed its plans to push for cricket's inclusion in the Olympic Games in the future.

Cricket, till now, has made just one appearance in the Olympics -- way back in 1900 in Paris -- when only two teams competed at the event - Great Britain and hosts France.

The Tokyo 2020 Games just got over while the sport will find it difficult to get into Paris 2024.

Against this backdrop, the ICC confirmed in a media release that the preparations for a bid on behalf of the sport will start with the Los Angeles Games to be held in 2028, followed by Brisbane 2032 and beyond.

ICC confirms cricket’s Olympic ambition

All details 👇🏾https://t.co/YOZ4qEywhR

— ICC Media (@ICCMediaComms) August 10, 2021

The game's global governing body has convened a Working Group to lead the bid on behalf of the sport, which will be focused on cricket becoming part of the Olympic family.

"Firstly on behalf of everyone at the ICC, I would like to congratulate the IOC, Tokyo 2020 and the people of Japan for staging such an incredible Games in such difficult circumstances. It truly was fantastic to watch and captured the imagination of the world and we would love for cricket to be a part of future Games," said ICC Chair Greg Barclay.

"Our sport is united behind this bid, and we see the Olympics as a part of cricket's long-term future. We've more than a billion fans globally and almost 90 per cent of them want to see cricket at the Olympics.

"Clearly cricket has a strong and passionate fanbase, particularly in South Asia where 92 per cent of our fans come from, whilst there are also 30 million cricket fans in the USA. The opportunity for those fans to see their heroes competing for an Olympic medal is tantalising.

"We believe cricket would be a great addition to the Olympic Games, but we know it won't be easy to secure our inclusion as there're so many other great sports out there wanting to do the same. But we feel now is the time to put our best foot forward and show what a great partnership cricket and the Olympics could be."

England and Wales Cricket Board Chair Ian Watmore will chair the ICC Olympic Working Group and he will be joined by the ICC Independent Director Indra Nooyi, Chair of Zimbabwe Cricket Tavengwa Mukuhlani, ICC Associate Member Director and Vice President of the Asian Cricket Council Mahinda Vallipuram and Chair of USA Cricket Paraag Marathe who believes the time is ripe for an Olympic bid.

"With so many passionate cricket fans and players already in the USA, and a huge global audience and following for the sport around the world, we believe that cricket's inclusion will add great value to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games and help us to achieve our own vision for establishing cricket as a mainstream sport in this country," said Paraag.

Cricket, which once featured at the Commonwealth Games --- 1998 edition held in Malaysia -- will make a comeback at the next edition to be held ay Birmingham in 2022.

The ICC is also bracing up for its flagship event -- T20World Cup 2021 -- to be held from October 17 to November 14.