Cricket - what matters most and will it be the Olympic Games?

Like millions of others across the world, I have spent much of the last few days engrossed by the opening stages of the International Cricket Council World Cup 2023. A competition at an intriguing stage of its 50-odd year history.

Using a format that is sparingly played at international level now, certainly amongst the traditionally powerful nations within the sport, yet it remains the pinnacle event in the men's international game.

The ICC T20 World Cup, should have, at least in theory, greater reverence, given it features the most popular and frequently played format in the modern game. However, that doesn't seem to be the case amongst cricket enthusiasts - or at least those who pen their thoughts on the game. Not yet anyway.

Perhaps it is a matter of a shorter history (15 years) and thus, less legacy value? Maybe the biennial scheduling does not create the same enormity as a quadrennial event which most players will experience maybe 2-3 times maximum in their career? Or, could it be that, for a game which can span anywhere between 2 x 20 overs to 5 days, fans still see the one-day/50 over format as the best compromise to determine the best all-round team in the game?

I was trying to think of comparable situations in world sport - where the biggest events deviate from the "usual" format. Perhaps men's grand slam tennis is the best? The four grand slams being the absolute pinnace of achievement in the sport. Yet for the men, played as best of 5 sets contests - something very rare outside of the slams. Furthermore, Wimbledon, the most prestigious of them all, is played on a surface which is nearing extinction (outside of that event and its couple of lead-in tournaments).

In any event, is quite a sight seeing teams at the ICC World Cup trying to adjust back to playing a form of the game that they are out of sync with. The concept of milking the middle 20 or so overs for 5 runs per over to build a total seems a foreign concept to some. Not a glamorous, but an essential skill to be successful.

However, whereas some recent World Cups have felt a little bit predictable, if anything, the lack of games in this format in recent years has meant that there is a feeling of uncertainty and unpredictability to this event. Many teams are probably not even clear who their best XI is in this format, so irregular have the games been - let alone how they match up with other countries. While not by design, all of the above ingredients have combined to create probably the most interesting World Cup in many editions.

It also led a friend to ask me where an Olympic Games cricket tournament would sit in terms of importance for fans and players. For those not familiar, cricket is jostling with a number of other sports for inclusion within the LA2028 Olympic Games programme (and then with a likely follow up at Brisbane 2032).

While the decision was reportedly delayed back in September, the next International Olympic Committee – IOC Session is due to be held in Mumbai in one week's time. Held in a convention centre owned by probably the biggest financial supporter of cricket in India. During the Cricket World Cup, also hosted in India...

Whatever needed to be done to bring all stakeholders on board with this decision, given the above and the positive statements of the ICC, it feels more likely than not that the sport will return to the Olympic Games for the first time since a fleeting appearance in 1900. Impending major governance events such as IOC Sessions often have the effect of bringing a laser focus to discussions. This ensures that key decisions can be made and announced for maximum impact and relevance in time and place.

I have long held the view that the inclusion of cricket would be a tremendous outcome for the Olympic movement. Aside from the flagrantly obvious commercial benefits in terms of broadcast rights fees from the Indian subcontinent and opening up of a potentially very lucrative new set of TOP sponsor opportunities from an array of massive conglomerates which India is home to, it is a home run (or perhaps a six... or "maximo!" in the world of European Cricket ) on two other key points.

It will create broad, mainstream interest in and visibility for the Games in a region that has never really looked upon the event with the same affection and interest as is the case in the rest of the world. With the addition of one sport, the Olympic Games can now truly claim to have deep sporting resonance across the globe.

However, possibly more importantly for an event continually striving for connection with younger audiences, it creates an instant touchpoint with three of the biggest and youngest populations on the planet. Cricket is, by some distance, the most popular sport in each of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. All three are top 10 globally in terms of population size (and projected to grow substantially in the coming deacdes) and each with a very young average and median population age.

Further, outside of basketball (and depending on which footballers turn out for the event), cricket will bring the most followed athlete on social media to the Games on the assumption that Virat Kohli is selected for the Indian team.

No matter what youth attention can be delivered by including "urban" sports such as breaking and sport climbing, nothing comes close to the impact that cricket will have in terms of massively altering the youth interest in the Olympics on a global level for the better.

Now, back to the original question of where will a T20 cricket tournament sit amongst fans and players? It is hard to judge.?However, given the novelty of the first full-scale Olympic tournament, the mooted six-team format creating a cut-throat competition, both the men and women playing at an event at the same time and with the significant South Asian diaspora on the American west coast turning out in force for the games – LA2028 could truly create one of the most memorable international cricket events of all time… and set cricket and the Olympic Games on a mutually beneficial path for the foreseeable future. ?