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Following the successful hosting of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham last year, Cricket is steadily progressing towards its goal of inclusion in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Although, the Commonwealth Games 2022 organised Women's T20 format matches in the sporting event.
According to ICC, the LA organising committee had recommended the inclusion of cricket for the Los Angeles Games along with squash, lacrosse, flag football and baseball. However, The organisers' recommendations will be subject to final approval by the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) 141st session which is going to take place in Mumbai next week. In the meantime, the Los Angeles Times reported that the sports are likely to be approved by the IOC.
While, in the 1900 Olympics, there was only men’s category but this time as per reports by the Guardian, in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, there will be both men’s and women’s categories. The recently concluded Asian Games 2022 also hosted cricketing even in both categories, and in T20 format.
Greg Barclay, Chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC), expressed his delight upon hearing about the recommendation. Eagerly anticipating the final decision, he stated, "
"We are delighted that LA28 have recommended cricket for inclusion in the Olympics. While 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... I’d like to thank LA28 for their support during the new sport evaluation process over the last two years and we look forward to the final decision being taken at the IOC Session, in India, during the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup next week."
Make appearance after 127 years
Important to note that, cricket was part of the 1900 Summer Olympics where host France faced England in a single match to decide the winner of the Gold Medal. Here, France emerged as the winner. However, since then Cricket has not been part of the Olympics. However, it has made appearances in the 1998 and 2022 Commonwealth games. After the approval of the IOC, cricket will be a part of Olympics after 127 years.
America also hosting the T20 World Cup
United States of America has been trying to become of the cricketing world. They have organised events like road safety with legendary cricketers from various countries. Another attempt is them hosting the T20 World Cup 2024 tournament along with the West Indies. With hosting rights, they automatically qualify for the tournament.
Now, cricket being a possibility for LA 2028 Olympics, this gives them more reason to work their infrastructure for the sport.
Conclusion
It is significant to note that Cricket, second only to football, is globally recognized. The escalating popularity of this sport extends beyond cricket-playing nations, enhancing the possibility of its inclusion in the Olympics and providing a lucrative opportunity for broadcasters. Furthermore, go reach global recongisation, and popularity the quality of the game has to improve as well. There has been constant criticism about how Cricket is just exclusive to few nations because of the power monopoly. Australia, England, and India are often criticised to take bulk of the money from the multi-nation events.
For example, in the ODI cricket World Cup 2023 only 10 teams are participating. While in Football it is more than 30. It is important to bring in new countries, and invest in the players and infrastructure for better game of cricket.
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