Cricket in the Olympics?
Why isn’t cricket in the Olympics? It is a question that has been asked from time to time for over a century since the sport made its sole appearance in the Paris Olympic Games in 1900. For the record, only two sides took part with a team from Great Britain beating France by 159 runs in a two-day match at the Velodrome de Vincennes.
Until the end of last year, the answer to the question posed was quite simple – cricket was not part of the Olympic Family. There is a long list of criteria that need to be satisfied before a governing body like the ICC can seek to become ‘recognised’ by the International Olympic Committee. It was only after taking control of the women’s game in 2005 and introducing a WADA-compliant anti-doping code in 2006 that ICC ticked all the major boxes and was able to submit an application which was approved at the first time of asking by the IOC Executive Board in Lausanne in December 2007.
This provisionally places cricket in a pool of IOC-recognised sports that are not currently on the programme of the Olympic Games but could apply to be included in the future.
The programme of sports for the 2012 Olympics was decided at the same time London was awarded the hosting rights for the event in 2005 but while the game’s best cricketers will not be competing for gold medals in four years, the sport will play a role in both the build up and staging of the event.
The ICC World Twenty20 in 2009 will be one of the biggest sporting showcases for the United Kingdom between now and the Games and the historic Lord’s Cricket Ground is set to play host to the Olympic archery event in 2012.
Looking further ahead, a decision on the 2016 Olympic programme will be made in 2009 - probably too soon for cricket to mount a successful Olympic campaign - but if cricket decided it was intent on pursuing Olympic ambitions, then Twenty20 cricket in 2020 does have a certain ring to it.
To date the objective of the ICC has been to secure IOC-recognition for the other, mainly indirect, benefits it brings for many of the world’s emerging cricket countries.
The argument has often been raised by the ICC’s Associate and Affiliate Members that governments and other stakeholders in countries that do not have a rich cricket heritage will feel more comfortable supporting their national cricket board if the sport is part of the Olympic Movement. Encouragingly, within a week of this recognition being confirmed, positive stories began to filter back to the ICC from Africa, the Americas and Europe of increased support and opportunities for cricket.
One of the benefits of the ICC’s recognition is that its 101 Members can seek to become affiliated to their own National Olympic Committees which, as well as providing funding and support, often offer resources, information and training opportunities that can be crucial to grassroots development.
Throughout its discussions with the IOC, the ICC has also emphasised its desire to build a closer working relationship by sharing knowledge and expertise in areas of common interest.
The IOC President, Jacques Rogge, who played cricket during summer vacations in England in his youth, showed a keen interest in the work of the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit during a meeting with ICC officials in Lausanne in October last year. Lord Condon, the ACSU Chairman, was subsequently invited to address the IOC’s executive board on sports betting and with the Olympic Movement placing this issue alongside doping at the top of its agenda in 2008, the ICC will continue to offer guidance to the IOC and other sporting bodies in this critical area of sports administration.
While the current generation of elite cricketers may never have the chance to compete in the Olympics, there will be at least one team of cricketers with gold medals around their necks even before 2012. Two years after Beijing stages the 2008 Olympic Games, its fellow Chinese city Guangzhou will play host to the 16th Asian Games and, for the first time, the elite cricketers from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are expected to line up against other qualifiers and the host country in a Twenty20 event.
Cricket has only featured once in the Olympic Games and has thrived as a sport in the intervening century without being part of the Olympic Movement. There is no doubt that shared values and sporting objectives make the ICC and IOC natural partners, but would cricket fit naturally back into the Olympic Games? It is simply too early to say.