Cricket is back in the Olympics after over a century, as the venue has been announced to host it.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has hosted cricket matches in Pomona, Southern California, for the first time in 128 years at the Olympics by revealing Fairgrounds as the venue for participation in the Los Angeles 2028 Games.
Excitement has been stirred worldwide after the announcement of cricket returning to the Olympics. The details were made official by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on April 9, including the quota for teams for the power-packed T20 format. Six teams will challenge each other, men and women separately, meaning 90 for both genders. This means that each nation can send a 15-player squad.
“This is a great moment for cricket. Being part of the Olympics is a big opportunity to take the sport to new audiences around the world. The fast-and-thrilling T20 format is perfect for it,” ICC Chair Jay Shah said.
He also appreciated IOC and LA28’s efforts to make the historical entry possible and predicted cricket to flourish in Los Angeles.
The Olympic re-entry of cricket was officially confirmed in October 2023, along with the other five sports: baseball/softball, flag football, lacrosse (sixes), and squash.
The T20 format is not new to multi-sport events. It has already been included in the Asian Games: 2010, 2014, and 2023. It was also part of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, where only women’s teams competed.
