The lure of Olympic Games will help Cricket Australia keep star players from T20 circuit

The chance to compete for gold at the Olympics will provide Cricket Australia with fresh ammunition to combat the poaching raids from cashed up T20 franchises, writes LACHLAN MCKIRDY.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – OCTOBER 17: Nick Hockley, CEO of Cricket Australia, speaks to the media on the announcement of new program sports for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games during a media opportunity at Museum of Contemporary Art on October 17, 2023 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images for the AOC)

The lure of winning an Olympic gold medal could be the latest trump card for Cricket Australia (CA) in the tug of war between players and T20 franchises.

The International Olympic Committee has confirmed that cricket is one of six sports to be included for the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.

It is expected that six men’s and women’s teams will compete in a format similar to the T20 competition at the Commonwealth Games last year.

With the increasing financial appeal of playing T20 franchise cricket around the world, CA CEO Nick Hockley believes the Olympics is an added boost for international players.

“Absolutely, it’s another opportunity to represent your country on the world stage,” Hockley said. “Every time our women’s or men’s players pull on that jersey to compete … they want to win.

“The exciting thing for cricket is that there’s more money and more investment coming into the game. It’s arguably one of the fastest-growing team sports in the world.

“Our recent MOU sought to address a couple of things. One, to make sure CA contract players remain among the best paid sports people in Australia so they continue to prioritise playing for Australia.

“Equally, we want to support our players where we can, and where the schedule allows us, to go and pursue some of those opportunities.”

Australia claimed the cricket gold medal at last year’s Commonwealth Games. Picture: Alex Davidson/Getty Images

One of the big question marks around cricket’s inclusion in the Olympics is how it will fit into the ICC’s already congested schedule.

It is likely the tournament will take place just months before Australia co-hosts a T20 World Cup with New Zealand.

Hockley said there was room for the Olympics to become the new pinnacle of world cricket and he hoped that its introduction would drive more investment in the sport, particularly from associate members.

“The T20 World Cup expansion from 16 to 20 teams is an opportunity for all cricketing countries to be able to compete in the World Cup,” Hockley said.

“What the Olympics provides in 2028, and hopefully beyond, is an even further pinnacle for the top six teams.

“I think being part of the Olympics locks a huge amount of investment and focus … particularly in emerging cricketing nations. If something’s on the Olympic medal program, it gets greater focus.

“Particularly in T20 cricket, the barriers to entry are lower. So I think you will see a lot of the associate members, less traditional cricketing countries, put a lot of resources behind T20 cricket.

“I think this is a real beacon of opportunity when combined with the T20 World Cup to grow cricket in more countries.”

Hockley is confident a six-team Olympic format will not harm countries that don’t qualify for the Games. Picture: Mark Evans/Getty Images for the AOC

Hockley said another benefit of cricket’s return to the Olympics was helping to grow the game in the US.

America is one of the fastest-growing markets for cricket in the world and giving the country a reason to invest in more facilities will expedite that evolution.

However, it is another example of T20 cricket proving to be the future of the sport and gives further evidence that the 50-over format requires rejuvenation.

“I think Test cricket now has more context with the World Test Championship,” Hockley said. “T20 will now have enormous context, not only to qualify for the T20 World Cup but now to qualify for the Olympics.

“I think that’s our challenge for one-day cricket to make sure that bilateral cricket all counts towards the World Cup.

“Then you have really nice structures and pyramids for all three formats of the game.”