ICC mulling bid for Olympic inclusion in 2024

LONDON : The time is right for cricket to return to the Olympics and a decision on applying for inclusion in 2024 will have to be made within months, International Cricket Council’s (ICC) chief executive Dave Richardson said on Thursday. The founder of the modern Olympics, Frenchman Pierre de Coubertin, was enthusiastic about cricket, a sport dominated by Britain and former British colonies such as Australia and India, but it has only once featured in the Games — in Paris in 1900.
“We need to make a decision by, I guess, July of this year so that we can submit an application by September,” said Richardson. “And of course it’s not what cricket wants, it’s whether the International Olympic Committee (IOC) wants us.”
IOC will choose between Paris and Los Angeles for holding the 2024 Games at a meeting in Lima in September, with new sports also under consideration. Baseball and softball are set to return in Tokyo in 2020.Richardson said it did not matter which city won the bid. “Both (cities) would … probably be opportunistic for us, especially the US option, but also in Europe,” he said.“You’d have to spend a little bit more money on cricket pitches in France than in the US but it’s not impossible.”
“I think the majority of the members, and certainly myself, think the time is right,” Richardson added. “I think we’ve come to the conclusion that the overall benefit to the game of helping to globalise it and grow will outweigh any negatives.” Richardson said any approach would be for T2 format. There have been concerns that the inclusion in the Olympics could damage the sport’s own events. Besides, clearing the calendar at a busy time of the cricket year would be another headache.