Background
Cricket has had a history in the early Olympics. In the first modern Olympics in 1896 in Athens it was planned that cricket would be played as a medal sport but due to a lack of entries, the planned event did not occur. [3] In 1900 in Paris, four teams entered: Great Britain (listed as England in posters advertising it and represented by Devon & Somerset Wanderers), [3] France, Belgium and the Netherlands. However, only one match was played between Great Britain and France, with Great Britain winning the two-day match. The players did not realize this was an Olympic event until it was retrospectively recognized as one in 1912. [3] Cricket was scheduled for the 1904 Games but was cancelled shortly before the start of the Games [4] and not considered for inclusion in the century following. [3]
For many years, many of cricket's governing bodies, including the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), were long opposed to a return to the Olympics. [5] The sport also only featured at the Commonwealth Games twice before being added to the Olympic program again: a 50-over men's tournament in Kuala Lumpur in 1998 and a Twenty20 women's tournament at Edgbaston when Birmingham hosted in 2022. The ECB withdrew their opposition in 2015, [6] and in March 2017 it was reported that International Cricket Council chief Dave Richardson thought the "time is right" for Olympic cricket. [7] It was also reported that the opposition of the BCCI had softened. [8]
In October 2020, USA Cricket stated that it saw a proposed inclusion of cricket to the 2028 Summer Olympics program in Los Angeles as a long-term goal. [9] [10] In 2020, the BCCI in its Annual General Meeting decided to back the ICC's bid for inclusion of T20 cricket in 2028 after getting some clarification from the International Olympic Committee. [11] [12] [13] In August 2021, the ICC confirmed its plans to bid for the inclusion of cricket at the Olympics, starting with the 2028 and 2032 games. [14]
On October 9, 2023, the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee announced that cricket was on the list of sports they wished to introduce. [15] On October 13, 2023, the IOC announced that the bid was accepted and placed under voting to finalize its inclusion in 2028 during the 141st IOC Session in Mumbai between October 14 to 16, 2023. It was confirmed on October 16, 2023, that cricket, including both men's and women's T20 tournaments, would be featured in the 2028 Olympics as only two voted against inclusion. [16] [17] [18] [19]
Later that month, it was announced that cricket will be played at a temporary venue at the Fairplex in Pomona, California. [1] Organizers had considered holding the event in the Eastern United States in order to allow more favorable scheduling of matches for prime time viewership in India, but it was decided to keep the event within Los Angeles County so that players would be able to stay at the Olympic Village. [20]
In April 2025, it was confirmed by the IOC that both the men's and women's competitions would be in the Twenty20 format and made up of six teams each. Each nation will have 15 players in their squad after cricket was allocated 90 athletes per gender for the event. [21] A number of elite national cricket teams do not organise within standard IOC recognised jurisdictions; of the twelve ICC full member teams, three do not correspond directly to National Olympic Committees: England, Ireland and the West Indies, the last of which has featured players from Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua and Barbuda and Guyana among other Caribbean nations. However, the Olympic Federation of Ireland has experience in organising all-Ireland teams for the Olympic Games in both field hockey and rugby sevens. In April 2025, the ECB and Cricket Scotland (Scotland has a high associate nation ranking) announced discussions were underway to create a Great Britain Olympic cricket team for the Games, having been the gold medalists in the only previous Olympic cricket competition. [22]
Both men's and women's competition will see a first phase with the six teams split into two groups of three. The second phase will see teams play those in the opposite group who did not finish in the same position. Results from the four matches will be used to construct a final table where first and second will contest the gold medal match, and third and fourth will contest the bronze medal match. [23]
Gold medal matches will be played on 20 and 29 July with the first match being played on 12 July. [23]
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