“It can only be a positive thing for our game. I’ve sat on various committees over the last 15 or 20 years, and it’s always been on the top of almost every agenda – how do we get the game back into the Olympics? And finally, it’s there,” Ponting said on The ICC Review. “It’s only four years away. I think it also gives cricket a chance to break into the grassroots level in the US.”
Cricket is returning to the Games after 128 years, with the only time it featured previously being in 1900, with two teams – Great Britain and France – participating, and the former winning gold.
“The thing about the Olympic Games, it’s not [about] the host nation. It’s about the audience that it opens up,” Ponting said. “The Olympic Games being viewed by so many people all around the world, it just opens up completely different audiences to our game that’s seemingly growing on a daily basis anyway. It can only be a real positive thing for the game.”
“So all those are things to think about, [but] I’m really excited about where the game’s headed and the growth of different markets that we’re seeing emerge.”
Cricket at LA28 will be played in the T20 format, with both men’s and women’s teams set to feature.
Edited PTI copy.
