Cricket’s world governing body announced on Monday that it will advocate for the sport’s inclusion in the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
The International Cricket Council said that it would begin planning an Olympic campaign in 2028, noting that “the sport’s inclusion in 2028 would break a 128-year hiatus.”
Cricket has only appeared in the Olympics once, in Paris in 1900, when the Devon and Somerset Wanderers, representing Great Britain, won a one-innings match by 158 runs over the sole other competitors, a team of British embassy personnel dressed as France.
The Tokyo Olympics, which ended on Sunday, were an inspiration, according to ICC head Greg Barclay, and cricket’s vast fan base meant it should be welcomed to the celebration.
In an ICC statement, Barclay said, “I would want to thank the IOC, Tokyo 2020, and the people of Japan for staging such a magnificent Games in such tough conditions.”
“It was genuinely great to witness and captivated the world’s interest, and we would love to see cricket included in future Games.”
“The Olympics, in our opinion, are an important component of cricket’s long-term destiny. We have over a billion followers throughout the world, and about 90% of them want to see cricket at the Olympics “Barclay stated.
“Clearly, cricket has a large and devoted fan base, notably in South Asia, where 92% of our fans are from, and there are 30 million cricket fans in the United States,” Barclay added. “For such supporters, the prospect of seeing their heroes compete for an Olympic medal is tantalizing.”
Cricket will be back in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2022, with a women’s T20 category, according to Barclay. The sport made its first appearance at the Commonwealth Games in Malaysia in 1998, when South Africa won a 50-over competition.
“The sport will be featured in the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games next year, which is shaping up to be a fantastic showcase for what the sport can bring to the Olympics, as well as a landmark occasion in and of itself,” according to an ICC statement.
“We realize it won’t be simple to gain acceptance because there are so many other fantastic sports who want to achieve the same. However, we believe that now is the time to put our best foot forward and demonstrate what a fantastic combination of cricket and the Olympics can be “Barclay remarked.
