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The ICC is plotting cricket’s return to the Olympic Games after a 121-year drinks break


It has been 121 years since cricket featured at the Olympics, but there is a renewed push for the sport to be included as soon as 2028.

The last time cricket was seen at the summer Olympics was in 1900, when Paris played host to a one-match fixture between England and France.

The match did not even gain first-class status.

Now the ICC — in a move the ABC understands has been led by Indian cricket’s governing body, the BCCI — is pitching its Olympic vision once more.

The ICC has today confirmed its intention to submit a bid on behalf of the sport to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) targeting the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.

Cricket will have a taste of inclusion in a global sporting competition in 2022, with it set to feature in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, in what could be seen as a curtain-raiser for the Olympics.

In a press release, the ICC cited the 38 million cricket fans who called USA their home and said cricket’s inclusion in the Games would prove beneficial to both the sport and the Olympics.

ICC chair Greg Barclay said it would not be a disadvantage to have the Games in the US, given the sport’s increasing popularity there, but admitted the road ahead looked tough.

“But we feel now is the time to put our best foot forward and show what a great partnership cricket and the Olympics are.”

In its bid, the ICC’s Olympic working group will be led by ECB chair Ian Watmore, who will work alongside members of the Asian Cricket Council, USA Cricket and an ICC independent director.

For a long time, India’s reluctance to take part in the Games has proved a bump in the road for the ICC’s bid, but it appears the BCCI is receptive to the IOC’s interest in the sport.

“Once cricket is added in the Olympics, the BCCI will be participating,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah said in the Hindustan Times this week.

The USA’s chair of cricket is hopeful to see the sport feature in his country in seven years’ time.

“USA Cricket is thrilled to be able to support cricket’s bid for inclusion in the Olympics,” Paraag Marathe said.

“The timing aligns perfectly with our continuing plans to develop the sport in the USA.”

With many viewing England’s The Hundred as the ECB’s Olympics pitch, the new 100-ball format could prove a key bargaining chip in the ICC’s bid.

There is also the option of Twenty20 or 50-over one-day games, but with the Olympics only two weeks’ long, a red-ball game seems an impossibility.



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