Southern Brave coach Mahela Jayawardene has backed The Hundred format for the Olympics consideration, believing this could be the format that brings cricket in the Olympics.
The cricket world has long been asking for the inclusion of cricket in the Olympic Games. The Olympics is the biggest world event and has enormous importance in all parts of the world. To have one of the most followed sports feature in the Olympic Games is something that the cricketing bodies have been continually asking for.
Reportedly, there has been a bid for the inclusion of cricket at Los Angeles 2028 and International Cricket Council (ICC) along with Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) have backed it.
However it is not decided yet which format of the game should be proposed. Mahela Jayawardene, who is a part of the ICC committee that’s overseeing this matter, has backed the 100-ball format. Jayawardene is also a part of The Hundred, coaching one of the franchises – Southern Brave men.
We will have to wait and see once the tournament has kicked off, the enthusiasm for it and how people embrace it. T20 was discussed as a format, T10 is an option, so why not the Hundred? If it goes well, the time is compact and you get to finish in two and a half hours – it would be brilliant.
said Jayawardene as per The Daily Mail.
However, the format in consideration for the proposal needs to have its own world championship, leaving T20 as the only viable format for now. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) needs to approve the format and it must come under the aegis of the ICC. The Sports programme for Los Angeles 2028 will be required to be finalized by February 2022 at the IOC Beijing session.
Cricket has been a part of the Olympics only once in 1900, where only two teams – Great Britain and France competed.
The Sri Lankan legend has been highly optimistic about The Hundred, believing the newer audience will embrace it and it gets wrapped in only 2.5 hours. The Hundred has only been one week into its inaugural edition but has garnered polarising reactions from the cricket world.
