Cricket has the ideal product but must learn from golf and tennis as it prepares big Olympics push
It’s keen to be part of the Olympic Games and, yes, it probably has the perfect short, sharp and bright format that will would suitable, but cricket has a lot of roadblocks to overcome.
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Returning to the Olympics would be great for cricket … but would it be great for the Games?
The International Olympic Committee will listen closely to cricket’s pitch for the 2028 Los Angeles Games because it knows, through cricket, it has the potential to crack the elusive Indian market, which has almost one fifth of the world’s population yet just two individual Olympic gold medallists from its century-long Games history.
When Indian golfer Aditi Ashok shot back-to-back 68s at the Rio Games in 2016, 20 million people from India searched on Google for golf clubs that night.
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The penetration into India, now on board with the Olympics cricket push after initially opposing it, is a huge factor.
But it is not the end of the debate.
If cricket is returning to the Games then it needs to do with a sense of cherished commitment, planning and gratitude rather than just roll into the tournament with odds and ends teams as if it’s just another faceless stop on the breathless T20 road show.
Olympic officials feel the Games could benefit from cricket at its best, but not if it becomes another “I’ll check my schedule and get back to you’’ Olympic sport like tennis or golf.
The biggest stories these sports provide in the lead-up to the Olympics is who is not playing rather than who is. That can dull the entire vibe of the Games because the players involved, like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, create massive headlines around the globe, even for their no shows.
It is no-one’s particular fault, simply the price you pay when you have four grand slams or majors elsewhere which are a greater priority. But it does quash interest.
Can you name the gold medal winner in the men’s and women’s singles tennis finals in Tokyo?
No? You didn’t watch Alexander Zverev and Belinda Bencic storm to victory?
The good thing for cricket is that at last with T20, it has the perfect short, sharp and bright format that will would suit the Games. And it has a blossoming women’s international scene, which will boost its chances of inclusion.
The worry is that cricket is entering an era (partially but not totally enforced by Covid pressures) where players have never been more selective about playing for their countries.
And that is when they are being paid to do so, never mind when there is no prizemoney and they are playing for a medal, which to some will mean more than the cash and to others less.
The main challenge for cricket’s inclusion is a logistical one. Games officials love admitting small teams like surfing and skateboarding because it means a high ratio of medals per athlete.
“The thought of having 300 or so cricketers playing for just two medals won’t delight them, but if it worked it could be big,’’ one Games source said. “Cricket might get in but still has some talking to do.’’
So it should. The Olympics may hand out silver medals but should draw the line at silver platters.
Vote: Would you support cricket as an Olympic sport?
The International Cricket Council has launched a bold plan for cricket to become an Olympic sport for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles and beyond.
Riding off the back of the popularity of the Tokyo Olympic Games that defied gloomy predictions amid a global pandemic, cricket has joined the likes of netball to begin lobbying the International Olympic Committee to be considered to join the movement in the coming years.
The ICC announced on Tuesday they’d formed an Olympic Working Group to lead a bid that would seek for cricket to be included among the Olympic sports as early as Los Angeles in 2028 and could become a major showpiece of the Brisbane Olympic Games in 2032.
This is not the first time cricket has looked to expand it’s program, with the sport set to make its debut at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham with a women’s T20 competition included in the schedule.
Cricket was also included in the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur where Australia picked up the silver medal behind South Africa. Games were played over a 50-over format.
ICC chair Greg Barclay said the sport needed to begin work now to fight for inclusion in the Olympics as several other sports, including netball, had already launched their bids to be the next sports added to the Olympic movement.
“Our sport is united behind this bid and we see the Olympics as part of cricket’s long-term future,” Barclay said in a statement.
“We have more than a billion fans globally and almost 90 per cent of them want to see cricket at the Olympics.
“Clearly cricket has a strong and passionate fanbase, particularly in South Asia where 92 per cent of our fans come from, while there are also 30 million cricket fans in the USA.
“The opportunity for those fans to see their heroes competing for an Olympic medal is tantalising.
“We believe cricket would be a great addition to the Olympic Games, but we know it won’t be easy to secure our inclusion as there are so many other great sports out there wanting to do the same.
“But we feel now is the time to put our best foot forward and show what a great partnership cricket and the Olympics could be.”
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Originally published as Cricket has the ideal product but must learn from golf and tennis as it prepares big Olympics push
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