Legendary Australian player Ricky Ponting said having cricket in the 2028 Olympic Games at the Los Angeles will open up a completely different audience for the game. Cricket last featured in the Olympics in 1900, and the sport is set to make its long-awaited comeback at the 2028 edition of the Olympic games.
Cricket was among the five additional sports proposed by the LA28 Organising Committee for inclusion alongside baseball-softball, flag football, lacrosse and squash.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) officially confirmed cricket’s inclusion at the 141st IOC Session held in Mumbai in October last year.
“But the thing about the Olympic Games, I mean, it’s not the host nation. It’s about the audience that it opens up. The Olympic Games being viewed by so many people all around the world, it just opens up completely different audiences to our game that’s seemingly growing on a daily basis anyway. It can only be a real positive thing for the game,” Ponting told ICC.
Ponting, the three-time ODI World Cup winner, recently coached the Washington Freedom, to this year’s Major League Cricket title, and had a fair idea of how cricket is viewed in the USA.
Ponting recently coached the Washington Freedom, to this year’s Major League Cricket title, and thus has a fair idea of how cricket is viewed in the USA.
“Facilities and infrastructure and those things are going to be key and how many teams they actually decide on. I think it’s only six or seven teams that they’re talking about. So qualification is going to be at a premium, how you actually qualify to get into the Olympic Games. So all those things to think about, I’m really excited about where the game’s headed and the growth of different markets that we’re seeing emerge,” Ponting added.
