HippoSucks Posted March 30, 2017 Posted March 30, 2017 David Richardson, the ICC chief executive, has indicated that the governing body has come around to the idea of cricket becoming an Olympic sport, and that it is close to making a decision on whether to apply to the IOC for involvement in the 2024 Games. The question of cricket's inclusion at the Olympics has long been fraught with difficulties but, speaking at the SportPro conference in London, Richardson reportedly gave his backing to the move, which would likely take the form of a T20 tournament featuring six to eight teams. "We need to make a decision by July this year so we can make an application in time for September, when, as I understand it, the IOC will consider new sports for 2024," he said. "I think the majority of the members - and certainly myself - think the time is right and we've come to the conclusion that the overall benefit to the game in terms of globalising and growing it, outweigh any negatives, so I'm hoping." The host city for the 2024 Olympics has yet to be determined, with only Los Angeles and Paris left in the running (Rome, which has withdrawn from the bidding process, had previously given its backing to cricket being played). Cricket has only featured at one previous Olympics, the 1900 Paris Games. "T20 is the ideal format and we'd say even better than rugby sevens as it's actually one of the mainstream formats of cricket," Richardson said. "Neither LA or Paris would be a disaster for us, in fact both would be opportunistic, especially the US option." The BCCI has been seen as the major obstacle within the ICC. The ECB was previously opposed to the idea, fearing it would clash with the English season, but the new chairman, Colin Graves, signalled a change in stance after taking office in 2015. Making cricket part of the Olympic programme has been seen as a way to gain access to increased funding and help spread the game globally, with the MCC a consistently strong advocate. Richardson said the IOC had decreed the best players must be involved if cricket is to win inclusion - "They've told us we mustn't send beach cricket or six-a-side teams, it must be a format played at international level and it must be our top players" - and mooted the possibility of regional qualifying tournaments to decide which countries get to take part at the Olympics. He also suggested that England would be able to compete as Great Britain and potentially select Scottish or Irish players. "From an ICC perspective, the fixture calendar is the most challenging part of it," he said. "In the northern hemisphere, the Olympics are held in the English summer, so that's a problem for them if they've got an Ashes series on. So there will be issues and England in the past have said 'are we sure we want to go down this route?'" http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci-icc/content/story/1089267.html
Vilander Posted March 30, 2017 Posted March 30, 2017 yeah one gold coming home..if India competes seriously that is.
Doctored Wicket Posted March 31, 2017 Posted March 31, 2017 What a waste of a gold medal. Mainstream sports have their own world cups. Cricket, soccer, tennis etc do not belong at the Olympics.
rageaddict Posted March 31, 2017 Posted March 31, 2017 2 minutes ago, Doctored Wicket said: What a waste of a gold medal. Mainstream sports have their own world cups. Cricket, soccer, tennis etc do not belong at the Olympics. Let Cricket be included for its own good, that is to gain maximum exposure among the entire World. Countries like China would atleast keep aside some of their Olympics budget for a Sport like Cricket and try to develop a good team once the Gold Medal is on offer. rahulrulezz 1
BeautifulGame Posted March 31, 2017 Posted March 31, 2017 41 minutes ago, Doctored Wicket said: What a waste of a gold medal. Mainstream sports have their own world cups. Cricket, soccer, tennis etc do not belong at the Olympics. Then have to practically remove every team sport as all of them have world Cup anyway. rahulrulezz 1
rahulrulezz Posted March 31, 2017 Posted March 31, 2017 36 minutes ago, rageaddict said: Let Cricket be included for its own good, that is to gain maximum exposure among the entire World. Countries like China would atleast keep aside some of their Olympics budget for a Sport like Cricket and try to develop a good team once the Gold Medal is on offer. This. How hard is this for others to understand this simple stuff.
BeautifulGame Posted March 31, 2017 Posted March 31, 2017 Hope it goes through and no one (BCCI and ECB in particular) try to stop it. Olympic exposure is great for Cricket in getting noted in most countries and getting funding to develop from Governments. Also a near certain medal for India too.
Sidhoni Posted March 31, 2017 Posted March 31, 2017 Wouldn't it have to be an U-23 team with 3 seniors like in football?
Mariyam Posted March 31, 2017 Posted March 31, 2017 People in India may actually watch the Olympics if this were to happen.
asterix Posted March 31, 2017 Posted March 31, 2017 WADA karo nahin chhoroge tum mera saath... Don't forget the WADA. Players have to comply with WADA (anti doping tests regulations). Very strict guidelines. I doubt rockstar cricketers would like the regime... Mariyam 1
BeautifulGame Posted March 31, 2017 Posted March 31, 2017 6 minutes ago, asterix said: WADA karo nahin chhoroge tum mera saath... Don't forget the WADA. Players have to comply with WADA (anti doping tests regulations). Very strict guidelines. I doubt rockstar cricketers would like the regime... They already have . Russell was suspended based on WADA guidelines I think.
BeautifulGame Posted March 31, 2017 Posted March 31, 2017 28 minutes ago, Sidhoni said: Wouldn't it have to be an U-23 team with 3 seniors like in football? That is Football formulating it's own guidelines to preserve the importance of world cup
PBN Posted March 31, 2017 Posted March 31, 2017 Honestly, who cares about the Olympics. I'd want the World Cup to be the premier tournament. Hardly anyone cares about Football in Olympics.
sandeep Posted March 31, 2017 Posted March 31, 2017 Making Cricket an Olympic sport, opens up a bunch of government funding for cricket in a whole lot of countries. That may not matter to the test nations, but its a pretty big deal for associates and such countries. Would make a meaningful difference in spreading the game wider. It should be done. From India's perspective, BCCI is dead set against it. It would make BCCI give up their "outside of government" independence. They would come under the Sports ministry - this may happen anyway, but they are in no mood to allow it to happen without a fight.
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now