There has been immense excitement around the comeback of the game of cricket into the Olympics, almost after a span of 128 years since it was last played in the multi-sport event.
The games will feature both the Men’s and Women’s T20 competitions, as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) confirmed the venues and the number of participating teams for the big event.
Every nation has been allotted a slot of 15 members each, with a 90-player quota allowed per gender. The schedule would be revealed before the onset of the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028.
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The T20 format of cricket has been part of multi-sport events with both men’s and women’s competitions, which have been held previously at the Asian Games in 2010, 2014 and 2023. The Commonwealth Games of 2022 also featured a Women’s T20 tournament.
Decisions awaited in the ICC’s annual meeting for Cricket in the Olympics
The biggest decision to be made includes the qualification process and the minimum age regulations that need to be set before the onset of cricket in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
The ICC will decide on these topics in the annual conference, which is supposed to be held next week, as per Cricbuzz. The annual meeting has been scheduled to take place from July 17th to the 20th in Singapore.
The world cricket body is aiming to introduce a minimum age requirement for players to be eligible to play in the games. Though no reason has been cited for making such decisions, however, it has probably been made after suggestions from its Medical Advisory Committee.
LA28 Olympics team identification process
It has already been declared that there will be six teams participating in the Games, either in the men’s or the women’s categories. But the CEC is yet to decide on the process of selection or identification of these six sides in both gender categories.
One idea would definitely be going with the teams as per their rankings in international cricket. The top-ranked teams in the ICC T20 rankings—India, Australia, England, New Zealand, South Africa and West Indies—can be picked as the 6 teams.
Another major query remains as to whether the United States Cricket team should be given a direct entry as the host country for the event. Jay Shah’s talks with the Los Angeles Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games shall also be opened up in this meeting.
Other mentions in the annual meeting
Of all these key issues, another major issue is the matters related to mobile gaming, a topic that has been under discussion for quite some time now.
The meeting would also find a mention of the ICC Women’s ODI Championship and its regulations for the cycle between 2025 and 2029, which will be started off by the ICC Women’s World Cup in India this year.
The CEC meeting is scheduled for the 18th of July, and this will be the first meeting of the ICC to be chaired by the newly appointed CEO of the international body, Sanjog Gupta.
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