Cricket to feature in LA28 Olympics with six-team T20 format

The International Olympic Committee has confirmed the inclusion of cricket in the 2028 Los Angeles (LA) Olympics, marking the sport’s return after a 128-year, ARY News reported quoiting IOC.

The tournament will feature six teams each for men’s and women’s categories, competing in the T20 format. A total of 90 athlete quotas have been allocated for each gender, allowing 15-player squads.

The sport, absent from the Olympics for over a century, last featured at Paris 1900, where a one-off, two-day match between Great Britain and France was held—now recognised as an unofficial Test.

At LA 2028, cricket will be played in the fast-paced T20 format, with six teams competing in both the men’s and women’s tournaments. A total of 90 athlete quotas have been allocated for each gender, allowing every team to name a 15-member squad.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) consists of 12 ‘full members’ – Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, the West Indies and Zimbabwe. Another 94 countries represent ‘associate members.’

India (men) and New Zealand (women) are the current T20 world champions.

The event programme and athlete quotas for LA 2028 was approved by the Executive Board (EB) of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Wednesday.

Cricket is one of five new sports to feature at the upcoming Olympics. The IOC approved cricket’s inclusion for LA28 two years ago, along with baseball/softball, flag football, lacrosse (sixes) and squash.

The cricket venues for LA 2028 are yet to be confirmed. The schedule will be finalised closer to the Games.

Cricket’s inclusion at LA28 follows a growing trend of the sport making an appearance at different multi-sport events. A men’s cricket tournament was held at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur while the women’s game made its CWG debut at Birmingham 2022.

Both men’s and women’s cricket tournaments, played in the popular T20 format, were part of the Asian Games in 2010, 2014 and 2023.

Eight teams participated at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games while at the Hangzhou Asian Games, 14 teams competed in the men’s event while nine played the women’s competition.