AFP, Paris :
Cricket’s world governing body said on Monday that it intends to push for the sport’s return to the Olympics at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.
The International Cricket Council said it would start preparations on an Olympic campaign to point out “the sport’s inclusion in 2028 would mark the end of a 128-year absence.”
Cricket has appeared once in the Olympics, at Paris in 1900, where the Devon and Somerset Wanderers, representing Great Britain, beat the only other entrants, a team of British embassy staff appearing as France, by 158 runs in a one-innings match.
ICC chair Greg Barclay said the Tokyo Games, which ended on Sunday, had been an inspiration and that cricket’s large fanbase meant it should be invited to the party.
“I would like to congratulate the IOC, Tokyo 2020, and the people of Japan for staging such an incredible Games in such difficult circumstances,” Barclay said in an ICC statement.
“It truly was fantastic to watch and captured the imagination of the world and we would love for cricket to be a part of future Games.”
