Legendary Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting talked about how the inclusion of cricket in the 2028 Olympics will open up a complete new audience for the game. Last feature made by cricket in the Olympics was in 1900, and the game is now set to make a comeback in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Cricket is among the 5 sports added, the other are- Softball, Flag football, Lacrosse and Squadh.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) officially gave confirmation for the inclusion of cricket in the 141st IOC Session, which was held in Mumbai in October last year. “It can only be a positive thing for our game. I’ve sat on various committees over the last 15 or 20 years and it’s always been on the top of almost every agenda – how do we get the game back into the Olympics? And finally, it’s there.”
“It’s only four years away. Once again, in the US by that stage, hopefully, with MLC (Major League Cricket), another four years down the track hopefully growing. Who knows, there might even be more teams in the MLC by then. I think it also gives cricket a chance to break into the grassroots level in the US.”
“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,” said Ponting.
Since Ponting recently coached the Washington Freedom, he has a rough idea of how people in USA view cricket. “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,” he said.
“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,” he added on the state of MLC.
Ponting also mentioned how cricket as a sport can use the well-built fanbase of baseball in order to attract attention and boost the game’s popularity. “And the way that I sort of try and compare the two is we’ve all been to games of Major League Baseball. Huge events, the bat and ball game that Americans are growing up with and that game goes for four hours and through the history of the game, there’s less than one home run scored in every game.”
“So when you compare baseball to what the excitement and entertainment package that T20 cricket brings, then it should be a reasonably easy sell to the young kids in the US. So that’d be the angle that I’d be certainly pushing is just the excitement factor that comes with the game. And I think if they do that, then I think it’s very sustainable.”
Ponting ended his talks as he was excited about the thought of either serving as a mentor or coach for the Australian team at the 2028 Olympics.
“It’d be a pretty nice job, I reckon, to be a mentor around a cricket team in the Olympic Games, to hang out. I was lucky enough to play in the Commonwealth Games and just to be around the athletes in the villages and stuff was quite a surreal environment to be in for a cricketer.”
“So, look, I wouldn’t say no, but I think there’ll be a lot of people putting their hands up to try and be a mentor or a coach for an Aussie team in the Olympic Games. It’d be special to be a part of, so who knows? We’ll keep my fingers crossed and see what happens.”
