The International Cricket Council (ICC) has made its intentions clear, saying on Tuesday that it wants
Cricket to be a part of the Olympics Games in the future, and is planning a bid for the sport’s return, with
a 2028 tournament in Los Angeles as an objective
If successful, the sport will be performed at the prestigious sports event for the first time in 128 years.
Cricket has only been played at the Olympics once, in Paris in 1900, with Great Britain and the host
country France as the only competitors.
Cricket’s journey to its Olympic debut was long and winding. It was originally planned to be part of the
first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896, but it was canceled due to a shortage of competitors. It
made its premiere in Paris four years later, but that, too, was momentous.
The event was set to feature Cricket teams from the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, and
Belgium. Unfortunately, once their ambition to co-host the Olympics was rejected, both the Netherlands
and Belgium withdrew from cricket.
As a result, the match between the United Kingdom and France was cricket’s first and, as far as we
know, last contest.
Great Britain was awarded a silver medal for winning the contest, with France given
bronze, while both teams were gifted miniatures of the Eiffel Tower. It was only in 1912
when the match was given Olympic event status, that the medals were converted to
gold and silver.
At the next Olympic Games, in 1904 in St Louis, USA, cricket was left off the itinerary.
What better a location for the sport to return to the Games than Los Angeles, USA,
fittingly four years on from Paris 2024.
