Root welcomes ICC's bid for cricket to be included in 2028 LA Olympics

Joe Root welcomes ICC’s bid for cricket to be included in 2028 Los Angeles Olympics… with the England captain promoting The Hundred as a format that ‘seems to fit the bill’

  • The ICC has confirmed its intention to bid for cricket’s inclusion in the Olympics 
  • Cricket has only featured once at the Olympic Games, way back in 1900
  • England captain Joe Root says cricket at the Games would ‘go down very well’ 
  • Find out the latest Tokyo Olympic news including schedule, medal table and results right here

Joe Root has welcomed cricket’s bid to be included in the Olympics from 2028, citing it as a perfect chance to spread the game globally.

Responding to confirmation that the ICC is targeting entry for the Los Angeles Games in 2028, England’s Test captain said: ‘We constantly talk about how we can grow the game and it would be great to see cricket as an Olympic sport. 

‘The Hundred seems to fit the bill, doesn’t it? I think that would go down very well.

England’s Joe Root has welcomed cricket’s bid to be included in the Olympics from 2028

The England captain suggested The Hundred could provide the ideal format for the Games 

‘It would be fantastic to get cricket onto that stage and help it reach out to other countries. What an opportunity it would be.’

Despite Root promoting the ECB’s new 100-ball format as an option, Twenty20 remains favourite for inclusion in the application for LA28.

That is because the International Olympics Committee’s preference is for a form of a sport that has an established world championship. Only if the IOC decided 20-over matches were too long would the Hundred or T10 come into the reckoning.

A working group fronted by the ECB chair Ian Watmore has been established to begin the process of establishing cricket’s criteria of eligibility.

The ICC has brought together a working group to lead the bid with the target of LA in 2028

Eoin Morgan’s England side are currently ranked No 1 in the world T20 rankings 

‘Our sport is united behind this bid, and we see the Olympics as a part of cricket’s long-term future. We have more than a billion fans globally and almost 90 percent of them want to see cricket at the Olympics,’ said ICC chair Greg Barclay.

‘Clearly cricket has a strong and passionate fanbase, particularly in South Asia where 92% of our fans come from, whilst there are also 30 million cricket fans in the USA. The opportunity for those fans to see their heroes competing for an Olympic medal is tantalising.’

A cricket tournament is yet to be a feature of a Games, as only two teams competed when Great Britain beat hosts France in Paris on its only showing in 1900.


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