Cricket is set to return to the Olympic Games for the first time in 128 years. The sport is confirmed to feature at LA 2028.
The sport, absent from the Olympics for over a century, last featured at Paris 1900, where a one-off, two-day match between Great Britain and France was held—now recognised as an unofficial Test. At the Los Angeles Olympic 2028, the sport will be played in the T20 format.
In the global showpiece Cricket will have six teams in both the men’s and women’s events, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has confirmed. Each competition will see a participation of a total of 90 players.
At LA 2028, each team will have a 15-member squad.
The event programme and athlete quotas for LA 2028 was approved by the Executive Board (EB) of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Wednesday.
The process to include cricket in the Los Angeles Games began in August 2021, when the International Cricket Council (ICC) formally announced its intent to campaign for its inclusion. This led to a collaborative effort between the ICC and the LA28 Organising Committee, culminating in October 2023 when cricket was officially proposed as one of five new sports.
Cricket is one of five new sports including baseball/softball, flag football, lacrosse (sixes) and squash in the upcoming Olympics.
The IOC had approved cricket’s inclusion for LA 2028 two years ago, along with baseball/softball, flag football, lacrosse (sixes) and squash.
Generally played as a standalone sport, Cricket has been increasing growing to make an appearance at different multi-sport events.
A men’s cricket tournament was held at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur while the women’s game made its Games’ debut at Birmingham 2022.
Cricket as both men’s and women’s tournaments were played in the T20 format at the Asian Games in 2010, 2014 and 2023.
Eight teams participated at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games while at the Hangzhou Asian Games, 14 teams competed in the men’s event while nine played the women’s competition.
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The qualification criteria for cricket at the LA Olympics are yet to be finalised. Unlike Test and ODI formats, T20 International cricket is played by nearly 100 nations, making the qualification process more complicated. As hosts, the USA might receive a direct entry into the tournament.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) consists of 12 ‘full members’ – Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, the West Indies and Zimbabwe. Another 94 countries represent ‘associate members.’
India (men) and New Zealand (women) are the current T20 world champions.
The cricket venues for LA 2028 are yet to be confirmed.
