Only the best six teams should feature at the Los Angeles Olympics, even if it meant leaving out hosts the United States of America, global cricket officials said.
Cricket will return to the Olympic programme for the first time since 1900, with six-team men’s and women’s competitions to be held in T20 format. It has opened the debate whether the US, an associate ICC member that is ranked 17th in men’s and 24th in women’s, should get an automatic place, as is the custom with most sports.
Sumod Damodar, who represents the associate members in the International Cricket Council’s Chief Executives’ Committee, said the priority should be to make an ‘impression’ by fielding the best teams.
“I’d love an associate member to get in there but let’s be realistic,” Damodar told Reuters. “Should the U.S. get an automatic place? I’ll say let’s put the best that we can on show. We’re coming back into the Olympics after 128 years. We need to make that impression so that people will say, ‘Okay, we don’t want them to go back and beg ‘please include us’ before every Olympics’. Like track and field, we need to become a regular Olympic fixture. We need to show them that this product is worth it.”
The ICC is yet to announce the qualification format for the Games. However, it is believed that the highest-ranked teams at a cut-off date will compete in LA. Damodar added ‘the ICC should announce a cut-off date sometime next year giving all members enough time to improve their rankings’, according to Reuters.
“We need to send the best six teams to showcase our game from the perspective of what it has in store for us, for the public, and the spectators in the future Olympic Games,” he said.
Cricket at the LA Olympics will be played at a temporary venue in Pomona, California.
