The 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles is still five years away, but the International Cricket Council (ICC) is working towards cricket’s participation in the Games.
On Friday (July 14), ICC Chief Executive Geoff Allardice said that the governing body is actively pursuing the inclusion of T20 cricket in the marquee event.
The decision on cricket’s inclusion in the Olympic Games will be made in the coming months. Meanwhile, ICC's efforts reflect the growing interest in spreading the game and showcasing the T20 format on a global stage.
"The Olympics want to stage a format that has its World Championship. Given that, we will be proposing the shortest format for Olympic inclusion -- that would be T20 cricket," said the ICC CEO in a media round table on the sidelines of the Board meeting in Durban.
The much-awaited Major League Cricket (MLC) got underway on Thursday (July 13) in the United States, featuring six franchises that include four owners from the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Allardice believes the launch of MLC would generate significant attention and raise the profile of cricket in the United States.
"There are a number of developments in the USA that are helping to raise the awareness of the game. Start of the MLC is one of them, they draw a lot of attention to the sport."
He confirmed that the Men's T20 World Cup 2024 will be co-hosted by USA Cricket and Cricket West Indies, dismissing the speculations that it would move to the UK.
"I can say with finality that the 2024 men's T20 World Cup will be played in the West Indies and USA.
"The men's T20 World Cup next year will continue to raise awareness of sport. We are talking to the LA Olympics people for the last 18 months to two years, raising with them the awareness of cricket.
"We are expecting a decision in the next couple of months. Yes, all promotion of cricket in the USA contributes to raising that awareness," he said.
Allardice also made it clear that new formats like the T10 and the Hundred will not be included as international formats anytime soon.
"At the moment three international formats of the game are helping us and members to best promote the sport. There is no discouragement for T10 for domestic leagues or local tournaments.
"As a format, each member can use whichever format of the games they want to promote the game. The T10 has not been raised by any member for ICC to consider it as an International format," he stated.
When asked whether the mushrooming of franchise leagues would affect the health of international cricket, he replied: "You look at the impact of franchise sports. It is helping to promote our sport in a number of territories. It's bringing a lot of content to venues, broadcasters, fans and it's able to reach a much broader range of people than just international cricket. So the emergence of franchise leagues is one way to promote our sport.”
"There has been an increase in activity in that area and one of those discussions is to bring a balance in the calendar, what the international cricket should look like.
"The staging of a domestic league with the top players of that country is a very good way to promote cricket. We have made strides in a number of territories. It is changing the dynamics of the game and a lot of that has been positive," he further remarked.
(With PTI inputs)
