The big news about cricket at the Olympics is that the ICC has convened a Working Group to lead the bid which will be focused on cricket becoming part of the Olympic games for LA 2028, Brisbane 2032 and beyond.
ICC Chair Greg Barclay said: “Our sport is united behind this bid, 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.
“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 are 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"
BCCI being the richest and most powerful cricket board will have a huge role to play in this process. ECB and Cricket Australia will also be crucial in the proceedings. BCCI secretary Jay Shah has said that the BCCI and ICC are on the same page when it comes to Cricket in the Olympics and also confirmed that India will participate when Cricket is introduced in the Olympics.
The bid is backed by USA cricket as well, so the ICC is very serious about bringing Cricket to the Olympics. There are a lot of questions to be answered. What format of cricket will be used at the Olympics? The purest form of the game i.e Test cricket is not practically possible. Currently ICC has 12 full members and 94 associate members. Which teams will play at the Olympics will depend on the format that is played.
The likelihood is that the format will be a T20 or maybe even a T10 knockout tournament. But if white ball cricket is played at the Olympics it may not do justice to the purity of cricket. Cricket was played at the 1998 Commonwealth Games where Matches were played over 50 overs, and had List A status rather than full One Day Internationals. The 2022 Commonwealth Games will also feature Women's T20I cricket.
If the bid is successful it will surely promote cricket on a global stage like never before but test cricket will take a huge hit as a result. There is already a question of the quality for cricket going down due to too much cricket being played and the Olympics will only add to the clustered cricket calendar.
