Cricket's long Olympic exile could finally come to an end this week when Games chiefs meet in Mumbai to finalise the programme for Los Angeles 2028.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Twenty-eight sports are already confirmed on the schedule but cricket was one of five new sports formally proposed for inclusion by organisers for the Games on Monday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The International Cricket Council's proposal is for men's and women's Twenty20 competitions -- the shortest form of the international game.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"We are delighted that LA28 have recommended cricket for inclusion in the Olympics," ICC chairman Greg Barclay said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"Whilst this is not the final decision, it is a very significant landmark towards seeing cricket at the Olympics for the first time in more than a century."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
If it makes the cut, it would be the first time cricket has featured since 1900, when a team from Britain beat a side representing France in Paris.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Since then it has been in the Olympic wilderness, in part because cricket itself was quite happy to stand aside from the Games.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
But in recent years the ICC has made clear it wants to be part of the global showpiece -- a move that could turbo-charge the sport and help it exploit new markets.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"Our sport is united behind this bid, and we see the Olympics as a part of cricket's long-term future," Barclay said in 2021.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"We have more than a billion fans globally and almost 90 percent of them want to see cricket at the Olympics."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The game has had support from the highest places in the Olympic movement.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Late ICC president Jacques Rogge said in 2011: "We would welcome an application. It (cricket) is an important, popular sport and very powerful on television."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The current president, Thomas Bach, has also backed the inclusion of cricket, which featured at last year's Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
- Indian hotbed -<\/p>\r\n\r\n
This week the IOC executive board is meeting in Mumbai, ahead of a full IOC session from October 15 to October 17, which would effectively rubberstamp the decision.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Cricket could not have asked for a better city in which to make its case.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The IOC session is being held in one of the hotbeds of the sport as India hosts the men's 50-over World Cup.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Cricket, with its multiple formats and quirky rules, has long been a source of curiosity in areas of the world where it is not played.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
But the global language of cold, hard cash is easier to understand.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The arguments that Olympic cricket would clash with the English season or that the game takes too long look increasingly outdated.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The global calendar is now a mishmash of international cricket, domestic cricket and franchise cricket, with multiple formats jostling for attention.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The wildly popular T20 Indian Premier League, which has spawned several other franchise competitions worldwide, means traditional five-day Test cricket, long regarded as the pinnacle of the game, no longer holds sway.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The IPL, featuring global superstars, has helped India become the unquestioned economic driving force of cricket, thanks to legions of fans and lucrative broadcasting deals in a nation where the game is almost a religion.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Adding cricket to the Olympic programme is an obvious move, financially speaking.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
It would tap into the lucrative south Asian market, attracting fans in countries such as India and Pakistan that have not traditionally been strong in the core Olympic sports.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
It would also potentially help cricket access millions of dollars of public and corporate funding currently reserved for Games sports.<\/p>\r\n\r\n