Cricket Olympics

Cricket in the Olympics
Cricket's one and only Olympic appearance was during the 1900 Paris Games, with the final taking place between Great Britain and France, with the British team coming out as eventual Gold Medal winners.
Although there have been some campaigns to get the sport reinstated back in the Olympics, due to the format and length of the One Day game cricket did not lend itself to fit into the tight calendar constraints of the Olympic programme.


Possibility of Re-Entering the Olympics
However, with the development of Twenty20 Cricket the possibility of Cricket rejoining the Olympics is becoming more likely. Following the success of the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa and the International Olympic Committee provisionally recognising the sport, support to reinstate Cricket back into the Olympics programme is growing. Murad Qureshi, an Assembly Member at the Greater London Authority is spearheading the campaign, trying to get the organisers of London 2012 to include a Twenty20 version of the games included as a demonstration sport. He has stated that "It will draw in a large south Asian TV audience - and with more than 120 cricket-playing nations recognised by ICC, it will have a truly global appeal."
In an odd coincidence, even if featured as a demonstration sport it would take until at least the year 2020 for Twenty20 Cricket to feature as a full Olympic sport, and with the Cricketing Super Power of India positioning itself to bid for the Games, the future of Cricket entering the Games is promising.


Cricket handed Olympic lifeline
Cricket has moved a step closer to returning to the Olympic Games after the International Olympic Committee provisionally recognised the sport.


It has been brought back into the Olympic movement for the first time since the Paris Games of 1900. However, the earliest cricket could feature would be in 2020.
"Maybe one day it will be right for cricket to return to the Olympic programme," said International Cricket Council president Ray Mali. "This is great news for cricket, the Olympic movement is instantly recognisable around the world and for cricket to be a part of that again has to be a good thing. "Our goal has been to become an international federation that is recognised by the IOC and we are pleased to have achieved this target.
"We want to play an active role in the Olympic movement and we will be looking at ways in which we can work with the IOC for the benefit of cricket, sport and society in general."
The provisional status is for an initial two-year period, after which sports bodies can seek full recognition and apply for inclusion in the Olympics. If given full status in two years time, cricket would then be able to be considered for a place at the Games when the IOC review the programme for 2020 after the 2012 Olympics in London.
"The important thing is that this is the first step for the federation to be able to apply for inclusion into the Olympic programme," said an IOC spokeswoman.
The England and Wales Cricket Board began a campaign three years ago to have Twenty20 cricket included in future Olympics, prior to London being awarded the 2012 Games. The last time cricket was last part of the Olympics, Great Britain beat France to take the gold medal.
Source: BBC Sports Olympics