Cricket: ICC to push for cricket's inclusion in the 2028 Olympics

[banglabhai420]

Working group set up to see if the sport can be included in the Los Angeles games in 2028 and beyond

Cricket has not been part of the Olympics since 1900

A wait of more than a century could come to an end in the 2028 Olympics with the ICC confirming that they have set up a working group to bid for cricket's inclusion in the games to be held in Los Angeles.

The last time cricket was a part of the Olympics was in 1900, when Great Britain played France. But it could become a permanent fixture in the games with the ICC hoping to see it included in Brisbane 2032 as well and beyond.

"Our sport is united behind this bid," ICC chair Greg Barkley said in a press release on Tuesday, "And we see the Olympics as a part of cricket's long-term future. We have more than a billion fans globally and almost 90 percent of them want to see cricket at the Olympics.

"Clearly cricket has a strong and passionate fanbase, particularly in South Asia where 92% 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."

ECB board chair Ian Watmore will lead 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

"USA Cricket is thrilled to be able to support cricket's bid for inclusion in the Olympics, the timing of which aligns perfectly with our continuing plans to develop the sport in the USA," Marathe said. "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."

There has been a concerted push for cricket to partake in global sporting events in recent times. It already has a place in the Commonwealth games coming up in 2022 and there came a big boost in April when the two boards which have historically had reservations about cricket in the Olympics - the ECB and the BCCI - came together and made room for the possibility while building the 2023-2031 international calendar. Though nothing has been finalised regarding format, there has been growing support for the T10 version.

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Cricket at the Olympics? It's happened before
We look back at cricket's one and only appearance at the Olympic Games so far.

It is official – the campaign to get cricket back into the Olympic Games is on.

The ICC has made its intentions clear, announcing on Tuesday its ambitions for cricket to be a part of the Olympic Games going forward, preparing a bid for the sport’s return with a target of the 2028 event in Los Angeles.

If successful, it will see the sport played at the celebrated sporting festival for the first time in 128 years.

Cricket has only once been played at the Olympics, back in 1900 in Paris, with Great Britain and hosts France the only participants.

Cricket’s road to its Olympic debut was eventful. Originally slated to be included in the inaugural modern Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens, it was scrapped due to a lack of participants. Four years later it made its debut in Paris but that too was eventful.

It was planned that Great Britain, France, the Netherlands and Belgium would all enter cricket teams into the tournament. Unfortunately, both the Netherlands and Belgium withdrew from the cricket after their bid to co-host the Olympics was turned down.

Consequentially, the match between Great Britain and France was cricket’s first and, as it currently stands, last match.

The participants may not have even realised it was a part of the Olympics, with the match played under the banner of the Exposition Universelle of 1900 – a world fair in Paris – at the time. It wasn’t until 1912 that the clash was given official Olympic event status.

Neither team fielded a national side, with Great Britain calling upon the services of the Devon and Somerset Wanderers club, who were touring France at the time. France were represented by an  ‘All Paris’ team, whose 12-man group was largely made up of British ex-pats.

The two sides clashed at the Vélodrome de Vincennes in a two-day match comprising two batting innings each. Upon agreement by the two captains, each team had 12 players rather than 11, which took organisers by surprise. Having already printed scorecards for the match, the additional names were written in by hand.

The clash proved a low-scoring affair in the end, with Great Britain finishing 158-run victors. Fittingly, they were forced to race for the victory, with the final wicket falling just five minutes before the end of play on the final day.

Batting first, England managed a total of 117, with Frederick Cumming top-scoring with 38. In reply, France were held to 78, with Frederick Christian collecting seven wickets.

Fifties from Charles Beachcroft and Alfred Bowerman powered Great Britain to 145/5 in their second dig and an incredible haul of 7/9 from Montagu Toller wrapped up victory from there as France were skittled for 26.

Great Britain were awarded a silver medal for winning the contest, with France given bronze, while both teams were gifted miniatures of the Eiffel Tower. It was only in 1912, when the match was given Olympic event status, that the medals were converted to gold and silver.

At the next Olympic Games, in 1904 in St Louis, USA, cricket was left off the itinerary. What better a location for the sport to return to the Games than Los Angeles, USA, fittingly four years on from Paris 2024.