Cricket News

Cricket in Olympics: Six teams to vie for top honours at 2028 Los Angeles Games

New Delhi: Cricket is well on course to be a part of the upcoming 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and it has been confirmed that it is going to be a six team event in both men’s and women’s categories. Olympics will witness cricket medallists again as the sports marks its return in the Summer Games 2028 after a gap of 128 years. The organisers confirmed the development on Wednesday.

Cricket’s last outing at the Olympics can be traced back to the 1900 edition of the Games in Paris, where only a one-off and a two-day match between Great Britain and France was held. The game is now recognised as an unofficial Test. For the uninitiated, at LA 2028, cricket will be played in the T20 format, and now it has been made clear that it will be a six-team contest in each category.

Every qualified nation will be able to name a squad of 15 members, as a total of 90 athlete quotas have been allocated for each gender. The International Cricket Council (ICC), the governing body of the sport, consists of 12 full member-nations namely, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Afghanistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, the West Indies, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, and Zimbabwe. It also has ties with 94 countries, which form the associate members group.

Summary of Cricket at LA2028 Olympics 🏏 ✅ 6 Men’s & 6 Women’s Team Tournament
✅ 15 player squad per team would be allowed
✅ USA as a host nation would participate 🇺🇸
✅ Great Britain, consisting of England, Wales, Scotland & Northern Ireland, would participate
✅ One of… https://t.co/H5ZYk30Vks pic.twitter.com/Ot42S05PXk — The Khel India (@TheKhelIndia) April 10, 2025

What’s the qualification criteria?

For cricket tournament in 2028 Games, the qualification criteria are yet to be confirmed but it is very likely that USA will earn a direct spot at the quadrennial fest as the host nation, just like the ICC gives advantage to the host nation for any marquee tournament, regardless of their performance. This means only five teams will be allowed to make the cut through the qualification process.

The next Olympic Games will feature five new sports and cricket is one of those. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) approved cricket’s inclusion for LA 2028 in 2023, along with flag football, baseball/softball, squash, lacrosse (sixes).