Olympic Cricket At La 2028 Set For 9am Start Times

LA 2028 organisers person slated matches astatine nan Olympic cricket tourney to commencement astatine 09:00 successful nan greeting to cater for lucrative tv audiences successful India.

One of nan awesome factors down cricket's return to nan Games aft a 128-year hiatus is nan desire of nan International Olympic Committee (IOC) to pat into a lucrative South Asian media authorities and sponsorship market.

The six-team T20 tournament, featuring some men's and women's teams, will statesman connected Wednesday, 12 July - 2 days earlier nan opening ceremonial - pinch each matches staged astatine a venue which will beryllium constructed astatine nan Fairgrounds successful Pomona.

There will beryllium 2 games played regular astatine Pomona - located 30 miles from nan athletes' colony successful Los Angeles - starting astatine 09:00 and 18:30 Pacific Daylight Time.

Those matches will beryllium shown astatine 21:30 and 07:00 India Standard Time (17:00 and 02:30 British Summer Time).

The evening fixtures astatine nan crushed successful Pomona will beryllium played nether floodlights.

Kit McConnell, who oversaw cricket's return to nan Games aft a 128-year hiatus arsenic nan IOC's sports director, told BBC Sport organisers considered "core cricket markets successful nan subcontinent" erstwhile readying nan tournament.

"The imagination nan International Cricket Council (ICC) has outlined for america is aimed astatine providing nan champion players and nan champion teams connected nan Olympic stage," McConnell said.

"There's 3 years to spell but now we're very excited astir wherever cricket is, what it will bring to nan Games and arsenic what nan Olympics tin connection to cricket and its world description arsenic well."

BBC Sport understands nan title building for cricket astatine nan Olympics has now been agreed pursuing meetings betwixt nan ICC, IOC and LA 2028 organisers.

The six participating teams will beryllium divided into 2 groups of 3 pinch each squad playing each different once.

Teams will past play 2 sides from nan different pool, isolated from those who were classed successful nan aforesaid corresponding position.

For example, nan winners of Group A will play nan 2nd and third-placed teams successful Group B and vice-versa.

Results from each 4 matches will past beryllium utilized to find last rankings pinch nan apical 2 sides playing successful a last to determine nan golden and metallic medals.

The teams who decorativeness 3rd and 4th will play disconnected for bronze.

Medal matches will beryllium played connected 20 and 29 July pinch nan women's and men's tourney group to tally successful abstracted slots alternatively than being played concurrently.

The ICC is group to talk really teams will suffice for LA 2028 astatine their Annual General Meeting successful Singapore, starting connected 17 July.

Some members want T20 rankings to find which teams spell to Los Angeles but others person expressed a penchant for qualifying tournaments.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Cricket Scotland have held talks to shape a caller entity called GB Cricket to oversee a squad for LA.

The IOC person fixed assurances location will not beryllium a repetition of nan transportation contention which blighted showpiece games astatine past year's T20 World Cup successful New York, which nan USA co-hosted.

The 34,000-seat impermanent stadium successful Eisenhower Park looked impressive, but nan drop-in pitches utilized for matches during nan first group stage, including nan high-profile fixture betwixt India and Pakistan, were subject to criticism.

Unlike nan venue successful New York, which returned to usage arsenic a nationalist park, nan crushed successful Pomona is group to stay a cricket installation for imperishable usage by Indian Premier League and Major League Cricket franchise owners Knight Riders.

As reported by The Cricketer,, external nan IOC and ICC are successful negotiations pinch nan Knight Riders complete installing a quadrate arsenic opposed to utilizing drop-in surfaces.

"We're very conscious astir nan value of nan section of play and successful nan lawsuit of cricket, nan pitch," McConnell added.

"Now that we person finalised nan venue, we tin move guardant pinch each of those plannings successful a much actual sense.

"I don't deliberation it's only nan T20 World Cup. I deliberation each cricket lucifer has commentary astir nan transportation and what type of play it suits."