Cricket is pushing to be part of the Brisbane Olympics (Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)
In one of his first acts running international cricket, all-powerful Jay Shah was in Brisbane, the northeast state of Australia, last week to push for cricket’s inclusion at the 2032 Olympics.
Shah, the new International Cricket Council chair, met with Brisbane Olympic organizing committee chief Cindy Hook and Cricket Australia boss Nick Hockley. The meeting was certainly not top secret.
Details were leaked to the Indian media beforehand then Shah posted on social media in a video that was choreographed in dramatic fashion as if it was edited by Michael Bay.
“Very exciting time ahead for Cricket’s involvement in the Olympics movement – a meeting with the @Brisbane_2032 organizing committee in Brisbane, Australia today,” Shah posted.
Jay Shah has stepped into the rold as ICC chair (Photo by Francois Nel-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)
It’s certainly a new era for cricket’s power brokers led by Shah, who has been the most powerful administrator for years after leading the all-mighty Indian cricket board.
After a quiet four-year reign from Greg Barclay, a pragmatic New Zealander who flew under the radar, Shah is going to mould the ICC in his image. While there is some pessimism over whether he will positively change international cricket, Shah is keen on tackling the big ticket items. Starting with the Olympics.
Cricket has not been in the Olympics since 1900, mostly due to reticent – financial reasons primarily – from its powerful countries such as India and England. Sentiment started to change last decade and an ICC working group was set up in 2020 by then interim chair Imran Khwaja in a bid to get cricket back into the Olympics.
It was a long-winded process, but Shah eventually hopped on the Olympics board and it is believed his heft – and solidifying the all-important support of India – helped get cricket over the line for the Los Angeles Games.
But cricket will still need to fight to make it to Brisbane although the chances of an Olympic return are high with the bat and ball sport highly popular in Australia. There clearly remains politicking to be done, but Shah’s meeting had the feel of optics over importance.
What is more pressing is sorting out cricket’s participation in Los Angeles in what might make or break the sport’s Olympic involvement moving forward. There are several major unknowns over the competition.
Cricket will be played at the Los Angeles Olympics (Photo by INDRANIL MUKHERJEE/AFP via Getty … [+]
The cricket competition might not be played on the west coast – despite the determined efforts from administrators in several cities – and could instead be entirely housed on the other side of the U.S to maximize the massive viewership in India.
New York is the obvious destination having staged eight T20 World Cup matches 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, reportedly has plans to build a world-class facility in the famous city.
Other cities, however, want to stage Olympic matches. As I’ve reported previously, power brokers from San Francisco Unicorns and Seattle Orcas, franchises in Major League Cricket, have been scouting for permanent grounds.
There are other cities, not part of the six-team MLC, believed to be keen on playing host for LA 2028.
It isn’t just sorting out where matches will be played, but also a qualification format has yet to be officially locked in.
It’s been mooted that Olympic spots will be allocated to the top six in the ICC’s men’s and women’s T20 rankings at a cut-off date. But there has been influential support for T20 qualification tournaments – not rankings – determining which countries make the cut.
The exact number of teams – and the qualification route – will be ironed out next year when the event programme and athlete quotas are finalized for the 2028 Olympics.
They will be matters that require much attention for Shah, with the Los Angeles Games looming as his signature event of a tenure that will be firmly in the lights.
