Six-Team Formats Set For Cricket At Los Angeles Olympics, But Unknowns Remain

Cricket will make its Olympic return in Los Angeles (Photo by INDRANIL MUKHERJEE/AFP via Getty ... More Images) AFP via Getty Images

In an announcement that was widely flagged, but will still disappoint some, cricket will feature six teams each in the men’s and women’s T20 competitions at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

While other key details remain unknown, such as the qualifying system and venues, it does start to build momentum behind cricket's Olympic return after a 128-year absence from its sole appearance in 1900.

Eyebrows had been raised among administrators when it was mooted that cricket, deemed by some metrics as the world's second most popular sport, would get such a small allocation of teams.

It is considerably lower than rival global sports soccer, which will boast 16 women's teams and 12 men's teams in Los Angeles, and the 24 combined teams for basketball. 3x3, a truncated version of basketball, also will have 12 men's and 12 women's teams.

A total of 90 athlete quotas have been allocated for each gender in cricket, which means every team can name a 15-member squad. The small number of teams is due to a strict quota of athletes and keeping in line with the International Olympic Council's efforts in keeping costs down.

There are 12 Full Member cricket nations - who have status in five-day Test cricket and are granted more funding and power in cricket's tiered membership. It means some of cricket's best and most iconic nations will miss out on Olympic spots.

Cricket also boasts considerably more depth at the T20 level - a fast and furious game lasting around three hours - with 20 teams contesting last year's men's T20 World Cup, where notably rising cricket nation U.S. upset Pakistan in Dallas.

U.S. beat Pakistan at the T20 World Cup (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images

The U.S. as host nation are likely to get an automatic slot although possibly in just one gender.

There is still a lot to be sorted out. A qualification format has yet to be officially locked in, but it's been mooted that Olympic spots would be allocated to the top six in the International Cricket Council's men's and women's T20 rankings at a cut-off date.

That has angered some administrators. Zimbabwe Cricket chair Tavengwa Mukuhlani, who has been part of the ICC's Olympic working group since late 2020, believes T20 qualification tournaments - not rankings - should determine which countries make the cut for Los Angeles.

"If you look at the other major sports, the qualifying tournaments are so exciting and adds so much drama," he told me last year. "It's fairer, with every country having to fight for their place in the Olympics."

Venues have yet to be determined, with the cricket competitions possibly extending beyond Los Angeles.

The iconic Oakland Coliseum, the former long-time home of the Athletics and Raiders, is in the mix and will host nine Major League Cricket matches in June as the new home of San Francisco Unicorns, a franchise backed by Silicon Valley venture capitalists.

The Oakland Coliseum will host cricket matches this summer (Photo by Eakin Howard/Getty Images) Getty Images

MLC's future at the Coliseum is unknown - it is currently a one-season arrangement - but hopes are high that it can be extended long-term and perhaps even be used as an Olympic venue.

Forbes Iconic Oakland Coliseum In The Mix To Host Cricket Matches At Los Angeles Olympics

"I certainly hope the Coliseum could be an Olympic venue," Unicorns co-owner Anand Rajaraman told me. "It is the best stadium in America for cricket. A lot of it depends on what the Olympic Committee want to do, but from a cricket point of view it is the best option."

As I reported previously, Seattle is also vying to be in the mix although has not yet developed cricket infrastructure. The east coast is a possibility too due to a more favorable time difference with the lucrative Indian market.

New York did stage eight T20 World Cup matches in June at its $30 million modular stadium in Long Island. The cricket ground was torn down immediately after the tournament, but billionaire Mukesh Ambani, the owner of MI New York in the MLC, reportedly has plans to build a world-class facility in the famous city.

Expansion is set for MLC with two teams to be added to the six-side tournament in 2027. Philadelphia, Atlanta and Chicago are on the shortlist with infrastructure a key staple and the successful cities could also be in the running to host Olympic matches.

The U.S national teams are expected to host numerous international nations during the home 2028 season ahead of the Olympics.

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