MCC Committee strongly recommends that BCCI supports cricket’s bid for Olympics

MCC wants cricket in the 2024 or 2028 Olympic games.

MCC World Cricket Committee urged BCCI to support their bid of cricket in Olympics

The MCC World Cricket Committee strongly urged the BCCI to support cricket's inclusion in the Olympics.

The committee which boasts of members such as Ricky Ponting, Kumar Sangakkara along with current Bangladesh superstar Shakib Al Hasan, has said that the richest cricket board in the world should not become a barrier between the sport and its inclusion in the mega event that takes place every four years.

"The game's application to become an Olympic sport is gathering momentum and that the only remaining barrier is India's reluctance to proceed," an MCC release stated.  

"The committee has long been a supporter of Twenty20 cricket being included in the Olympic Games, believing it the single biggest step the game could take to unlock worldwide government funding and aid its global development," it further stated.

The MCC wants cricket to be included in the Paris edition of 2024 and if not then at least in the 2028 Los Angeles edition.

"For men's and women's cricket to thrive in future generations, new countries must be introduced to the sport; playing cricket in the Olympics is the best way to achieve this objective.

"With plans for the 2024 Paris Games well advanced, the committee urges India to unite with the rest of the world game and lobby the International Olympic Committee for the inclusion of Twenty20 cricket in the Olympic Games, ideally in Paris but if not at Los Angeles in 2028," the committee said.

The committee also talked about a long term plan which has better financial payouts and longer national team contracts to keep players from opting out of national teams to play cricket in T20 league all over the world.

"There is concern that players in the poorer or developing nations are not being paid sufficiently, and there needs to be transparency and accountability of where ICC funds are being spent by some member boards," it said.

Shakib-Al-Hasan also shared the experience of young players who are enticed by the glamour and money of the T20 league and the financial incentive is much more than the lure of playing Test cricket.

He opined that many younger players do not share his view of playing Test cricket for a long period; instead they are enticed by the financial security provided by the T20 leagues and prefer to play in those leagues.

It is a hard choice for players in some countries to make, and the committee feels it has created an imbalance in the international game.

 
 

By Jatin Sharma - 11 Jan, 2018

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