Cricket in Olympics: LA 2028 organisers recommend sport's inclusion in 34th Games

Cricket could finally make a comeback into the Summer Olympics after more than a century with the organisers of the 2028 Games in Los Angeles making a formal recommendation for including the T20 version of the sport.

Cricket was listed among the proposed “new” sports alongside baseball/softball, flag football, lacrosse and squash. There was however, no mention of breaking — which makes its debut in the Paris Olympics that takes place next summer.

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

Five sports have been proposed by the @LA28 Organising Committee for inclusion at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in five years’ time:

⚾ Baseball-softball
🏏 Cricket
🏈 Flag football
🥍 Lacrosse
⚫ Squash

The final decision will be made in the coming days. pic.twitter.com/kU1303jY0A

— The Olympic Games (@Olympics) October 9, 2023

The final choice of which sports are retained for LA28 will be voted on at the IOC Session next Monday in Mumbai.

The International Cricket Council welcomed the decision to propose cricket.

ICC Chairman Greg Barclay said: “We are delighted that LA28 have recommended cricket for inclusion in the Olympics.

“Whilst 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.”

The ICC’s proposal is for men’s and women’s Twenty20 competitions — the shortest form of the international game at 20 overs per side.

While it has not featured in the biggest sporting event in the world for over a century, cricket has made relatively recent appearances in other multi-nation, multi-sport events. It had made its debut in the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur 1998, and returned after 24 years in last year’s edition in Birmingham.

Cricket also featured in the 2010 and 2014 editions of the Asian Games in Guangzhou and Incheon respectively, and was also part of the events in the recently-concluded 19th edition in Hangzhou, where India won gold in both the men’s and women’s events.

With inputs from AFP