Cricket could make a return to the Summer Olympics. The sport, along with four others, has been identified as possibly a new competitor at the 2028 Olympics to be held in Los Angeles.
The other sports which could be added are baseball/softball, lacrosse, squash, and flag football, a non-contact version of American football.
Casey Wasserman, the chair of the Los Angeles organising committee, said of the potential inclusion of these sports: ‘They’re relevant, innovative and community-based, played in backyards, schoolyards, community centres, stadiums and parks across the US and the globe’.
The world governing body for cricket, the ICC, also welcomed the move. Its chair, Greg Barclay, said: ‘While this is not the final decision, it is a significant landmark towards seeing cricket at the Olympics for the first time in more than a century.’
A meeting to decide on the inclusion of these sports will be held next week.
If cricket is included, it will be in the form of a T20 tournament. It will include men’s and women’s teams.
Cricket was last played at the Olympics in 1900, the only Games in which it was involved. Great Britain won the gold medal in that tournament.