Cricket is set to return to the Olympic Games for the first time since 1900 in three years time at Los Angeles and there is already quite a lot of discussion around which teams will feature. For now, the schedule for the sport is confirmed as well as venue, but the qualification pathways are yet to be announced.
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Speaking to BBC Test Match Special, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chair Richard Thompson gave a hint of how things are likely to pan out, and it is likely to leave a few of the top cricket-playing nations unhappy – potentially, Pakistan and New Zealand, according to a report in The Guardian. The idea is centered around having continental representation across the six teams – five teams from five continents. From Europe, the decision would be straightforward. As seen in hockey, a Team GB is all but a certainty.
“We are there by invitation of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and you abide by their rules,” Thompson told BBC Test Match Special. “It is still being finalised but the IOC’s preference is to work to the five-ring principle, with teams from each of the continents – so Europe would be between Ireland and Great Britain. We would unite with Scotland and create Team GB. It would throw up the opportunity, if you took the principle that USA would play as the host country, and that would free up one additional slot for every other full country to have a play-off match to enable one of them to qualify.”
According to an ESPNCricinfo report, the ICC will soon approve the continental qualification system. “While the ICC’s initial thinking was that it would shortlist the top six-ranked teams at a pre-determined cut-off date, several Full Member countries believed such an approach wouldn’t allow for a wider representation of countries from across the globe,” the report stated.
If USA does get their spot in the men’s competition, that would mean a Caribbean nation, Asian powerhouses like Pakistan and Sri Lanka, and New Zealand (as part of Oceania from where Australia would make the cut) would all be competing for just one more spot.
In April this year, the ICC had made an official press communication welcoming cricket’s return to the Summer Games, which had only confirmed the venue and number of teams. “ICC has welcomed the announcement of Fairgrounds in Pomona, Southern California, as the venue for cricket at the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028 (LA28). The cricket competition at LA28 will feature six teams each in the men’s and women’s competition as the sport makes a return to the Games after 128 years.”
Cricket, which made its only appearance in the Olympics at the Paris Games in 1900, was included in the Los Angeles Olympics after an IOC meeting in Mumbai in October 2023. It joined five new sports at LA28 – baseball/softball, flag football, lacrosse (sixes) and squash. One compound archery event was also added later on.
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The T20 format has also featured in other multi-sport events in recent years. The Asian Games in 2010, 2014 and 2023 featured both men’s and women’s T20 competitions while the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games staged a women’s competition.
