London, Aug 13: Cricket could make its Olympic debut in 2028, MCC World Cricket Committee chairman Mike Gatting said. The former England batsman said that ICC's new Chief Executive Manu Sawhney in an address to the MCC Cricket Committee said that strong progress has been made on the subject, especially after the Board of Control for Cricket in India came under the auspices of the National Anti-Doping Agency.
"We were talking with Manu Sawhney, the ICC chief exec, and he was very hopeful we can get cricket into the 2028 Olympics," Gatting was quoted as saying by ESPNCricinfo. "That's what they're working towards at the moment and that would be a huge bonus for cricket worldwide, it would be fantastic."
Gatting said that the duration of the Olympics makes it more convenient for scheduling.
"It's two weeks, that's a good thing about it, it's not a month, so it's one of those (events) where scheduling for two weeks should be fine once every four years once you do the first one. You're going to have - one hopes - a four-year period, once you know you've been accepted into the Olympics, that gives you a chance to actually shape your two weeks, so it's not as if it is butted into the schedule.
"I think the next 18 months will be very interesting as to how we do that. One of the problems has been negated, where the BCCI is now working with NADA, the drugs agency, which it wasn't previously a part of. That will help a long way towards the sport being whole, which is what we need it to be to apply for the Olympics, both men and women to play and all countries to comply," he said.