Olympics is tough to fit into the cricket calendar, says ICC Head of Global Development
Jun 24, 2016 at 1:29 PM
The idea of promoting cricket to the Olympics has been an ever-growing issue in the world of cricket. And now that the 31st Olympics is knocking at the door, the issue has grabbed the limelight once again. After the rise of T20 speculations were rife that cricket might become an Olympic sport but chances of Cricket at the summer Olympics is likely to remain a distant dream if the International Cricket Council changes its decision to conduct the World T20 from a two-year to a four-year basis.
Speaking to ESPN Cricinfo, ICC Head of Global Development Tim Anderson said that while there have been talks with the IOC, the ICC is still not confirmed on the issue.
“It’s a big decision, there are some pros and cons,” he told ESPNcricinfo, “The ICC board has had long discussions and more recent discussions about the potential of cricket to participate in the Olympics. There’s been direct conversations with the IOC very recently and I think the continued dialogue with the IOC is really important but at this point our board has not made a decision in that regard.
“I think one of the additional pieces to the dynamic now is lots of discussion around the possibility of having two World Twenty20s in a four-year cycle,” Anderson said. “That would be great for cricket, too, I think and if that did happen, then you’ve got a really packed schedule of Twenty20 cricket internationally. Whether that positive move means that potentially another positive move is not possible, that’s certainly one of the conversations that’s happening on the board right now.
“It’s hard to really say whether it’s possible to fit two World Twenty20s and an Olympic Games in a four-year cycle. Obviously if we have two World Twenty20s it’s going to make the calendar much tighter and more difficult I would imagine. But I think the appetite right now around the board and Full Members for consideration of reform of international cricket is really strong. All of these things have been taken into consideration.”
While the major nations, most notably India and England have opposed the idea of promoting cricket to Olympics, Anderson said that the affiliate nations are keen to participate in the Olympics.
“We obviously know that the Associate and Affiliate members are keen for it to happen,” Anderson said. “There’s lots of positive things being discussed the reform of the international cricket program which for AMs is potentially really really important. It’s a part of a very large and complicated conversation.”