Cricket Canada Joins the Canadian Olympic Family

Cricket has taken it place among other great Canadian sports with the news that Cricket Canada has been admitted into the Canadian Olympic Committee. The COC board, at their most recent meeting, took the decision on Canada?s official national sports organization (NSO) for cricket.

The Canadian Olympic Committee is a national, private, not-for-profit organization committed to sport excellence. It is responsible for all aspects of Canada's involvement in the Olympic Movement, including Canada's participation in the Olympic and Pan American Games and a wide variety of programs that promote the Olympic Movement in Canada through cultural and educational means.

By virtue of its admission, Cricket Canada has crossed another hurdle in its quest to see cricket involved in multi-sport games domestically and around the world. Support from the COC is necessary for Canada to put forward initiatives such as the bid to get cricket into the 2015 Pan American games.

Cricket Canada Ranjit Saini spoke shortly after the announcement was made.

?We at Cricket Canada are delighted with the opportunity of having us become a member of the Canadian Olympic Committee. This is a dream come true and will now create opportunity for us to seek necessary support from our own Olympic committee to have cricket become a full sport in multi sport events such as Olympics, Commonwealth and Pan Am games?

?Furthermore it also allows us access to vast resources and experience that are available through the Olympic movement in Canada. We have now access to all the knowledge, and support of all those that have made Canada a great sporting country.?

?I am fascinated with the prospects that in my lifetime there will be cricket in the Olympics and that we at Cricket Canada would have played our role in achieving that success. I take this opportunity to thank COC and all my colleagues, ICC Americas, Sports Canada, Martin Grant and all our other friends that contributed towards this effort. This has been a beautiful day.?

Cricket was last played in the Olympic games in 1900 and has not featured in the Commonwealth games since 1998. Canada participated in the 1998 Commonwealth Games event in Malaysia, the last time the game was played at the event.