Cricket has been on the backfoot in terms of getting involved with the Olympics for a long time and it doesn’t appear like things will be changing any time soon. However, for the 2028 Summer Olympics which will be held in Los Angeles, California. The International Cricket Council ICC doesn’t seem to be giving up on the idea any time soon and is planning to launch another million-dollar bid soon.
Cricket was not included in the provisional list of sports to be conducted in Los Angeles, which involves 28 of them. The local organizing committee will be deciding on the additional sports only in 2023, which means there is still scope for the game to be involved in the procession, but it does not look very likely.
The ICC is not keen on entering the Olympics as an additional sport and wishes to propose a long-term plan to the International Olympic Committee.
ICC is set to launch a $3 million bid to reignite hope of getting the game involved, having announced their intentions in August. ESPN Cricinfo quoted a major source from ICC, saying that there have been plenty of discussions going on internally, with a lot of slideshows being made to come up with a convincing presentation.
Cricket very nearly got involved in the Olympics when Beijing won the rights to host the event in 2008. The sport’s popularity in South-east Asia was not to be ignored, but reluctance from BCCI and ECB did not prompt further discussions, ultimately prolonging a century-long wait for the Olympics to witness cherry and timber action. Only after these boards provided commitment, the hopes were revived.
Since last year, the committee has been working on promoting cricket as an Olympic sport, and the members are suggesting some quick action to take place in the coming two years for the sport to gain such recognition. Cricket will not be a part of the 2024 Olympics that will be conducted in Paris.
The only time cricket was a part of the Olympics was back in 1900, when only two teams took part. Great Britain took on France in a one-off gold medal match, which finished with GB winning the game comfortably.
