Team Gb To Be Guaranteed Place In Men’s T20 Cricket At 2028 Olympics

Team GB will beryllium guaranteed a spot successful nan men’s cricket tourney astatine LA 2028 aft nan International Cricket Council opted to usage nan location qualifying format favoured by nan Olympic movement.

The arguable determination is understood to person sparked a backlash from Pakistan and New Zealand, who are group to miss retired connected cricket’s return to nan Olympics aft 128 years, pinch India and Australia to beryllium awarded spots from Asia and Oceania respectively based connected nan ICC rankings. The IOC favour location qualifying to guarantee each parts of nan world are represented astatine nan Games truthful it is simply a genuinely world event.

With cricket’s Olympic return constricted to 2 six-team Twenty20 tournaments, qualification had been expected to beryllium tightly contested, peculiarly pinch nan United States successful statement to beryllium fixed an automatic spot arsenic hosts.

Following discussions astatine their AGM successful Singapore earlier this month, nan ICC decided to usage a strategy of location qualifying. It has been projected that nan top-ranked squad successful Asia, Oceania, Europe and Africa suffice automatically alongside nan USA, who would correspond nan Americas, which would person implications for nan West Indian islands hoping to compete.

Based connected nan existent ICC rankings India, Australia, South Africa and Great Britain would suffice pinch nan hosts, pinch nan system for determining nan last spot yet to beryllium decided.

One of nan Caribbean nations could switch USA if their governance issues are not resolved aft nan ICC called connected USA Cricket’s Board to resign earlier this month. The Guardian has been told that Pakistan and New Zealand are unhappy pinch nan ICC’s decision, but while it has yet to beryllium ratified by nan Board it is improbable to beryllium reversed, according to sources coming successful Singapore.

New Zealand are 4th successful nan ICC’s T20 rankings, narrowly down third-placed England, but are group to miss retired arsenic Australia are second. USA are classed 17th contempt reaching nan Super 8 shape astatine past year’s World Cup, which they co-hosted pinch West Indies.

Qualification for nan Olympic women’s tourney will beryllium decided by adjacent year’s T20 World Cup. Given England are staging nan arena Team GB are successful a bully position to qualify, arsenic Charlotte Edwards’ broadside would expect to scope nan semi-finals astatine a minimum.

Cricket has not featured astatine nan Olympics since 1900 – Great Britain’s men hit France successful a one-off lucifer for nan golden badge – but has been confirmed arsenic portion of nan schedule for LA, pinch nan games to beryllium staged successful Pomona, California, 30 miles eastbound of nan city.

If successful, nan ICC will lobby for bigger tournaments astatine nan Brisbane Games successful 2032 and their origin would beryllium helped if Ahmedabad triumph nan correct to shape nan Olympics 4 years later. Doha, Istanbul and Santiago are nan different confirmed bidders for nan 2036 Games.

The England and Wales Cricket Board has already begun mounting up a Great Britain team, and is successful precocious negotiations pinch Cricket Scotland astir creating a caller entity to negociate nan Olympic process, GB Cricket. A memorandum of knowing pinch Cricket Ireland is besides being worked connected that would let Northern Irish cricketers to beryllium eligible for Team GB.

GB Cricket is expected to beryllium officially constituted successful nan coming months. It would past request to beryllium officially recognised by nan ICC and nan British Olympic Association (BOA) earlier becoming afloat members of nan National Olympic Committee (NOC).

The ICC declined to comment.