Cricket set to return to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics after 128 years

Cricket is all set to return to the Olympics after 128 years as a decision on the inclusion of the game in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. Cricket's inclusion in the Olympics will be confirmed at the 141st International Olympic Committee session that gets underway in Mumbai on October 15.

London: Cricket is set to be included in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic program alongside flag football, baseball, and softball, according to a report.

The Guardian reported that cricket's inclusion in the Olympics will be confirmed at the 141st International Olympic Committee (IOC) session that gets underway in Mumbai on October 15.

• A massive step for cricket and its bid for inclusion at the 2028 Olympic Games.
  
  Details 👇https://t.co/S7p3FzK2tk

  — ICC (@ICC) October 9, 2023 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="

  A massive step for cricket and its bid for inclusion at the 2028 Olympic Games.
  
  Details 👇https://t.co/S7p3FzK2tk

  — ICC (@ICC) October 9, 2023

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  A massive step for cricket and its bid for inclusion at the 2028 Olympic Games.
  
  Details 👇https://t.co/S7p3FzK2tk

  — ICC (@ICC) October 9, 2023

ICC Chair Greg Barclay said, "We are delighted that LA28 have recommended cricket for inclusion in the Olympics. While this is not the final decision, it is a very significant landmark towards seeing cricket at the Olympics for the first time in more than a century."

He further said, "I’d like to thank LA28 for their support during the new sport evaluation process over last two years and we look forward to the final decision being taken at the IOC Session, in India, during the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup next week."

Cricket has been seen twice in the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur in 1998 and Birmingham in 2022, but it hasn't been seen at an Olympic Games since 1900.

The newspaper also reported that lacrosse and squash could be proposed as additional sports for the 2028 Summer Games. Cricket has been played in the Olympics only once before, in Paris in 1900, when England defeated France in a one-off match in Paris to clinch the Gold medal.

Men's and women's T20 competitions will be played in the 2028 edition, opening up a lucrative Asian sub-continent market for the IOC. Cricket's entry into the Olympics will also go a long way in widening the reach of the sport.

India is the game's biggest market and the value of the IOC broadcast deal in the country go up substantially following its inclusion in the 2028 edition. From the reported 15.6 million pounds for the 2024 Olympics, the broadcast deal in India could fetch as much as 150 million pounds if the game is featured in the 2028 edition, the paper reported.

Women's cricket made its debut in Commonwealth Games last year while men's and women's competitions were played in the recent Asian Games in China where India swept the competition. (With agency inputs)