T20 cricket continues to receive support for inclusion in Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games

Support for T20 cricket to be included at future Olympic Games continues to grow, as the Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees (CANOC) has backed the efforts of Cricket West Indies (CWI) to add T20 cricket to the Los Angeles 2028 Games.

CANOC president Brian Lewis said his group has been working with several organizations to raise the profile of T20 cricket, and believes adding it to the Olympics will have a far-reaching impact.

“These issues impact sport, youth and young people in the Caribbean. We fully support it and will support West Indies cricket in whatever efforts are required by the International Cricket Council and IOC in terms of the push to get T20 cricket male and female on the Los Angeles 2028 program,” Lewis said at the CANOC general assembly in St. Lucia. “We believe T20 can add significant value to the Olympic program.”

Cricket in any format has only been included in one Olympic Games, way back in 1900 in Paris. Great Britain and France were the only countries entered. Great Britain beat France by 158 runs to claim the gold medal. Cricket was originally scheduled to be the only team sport in the inaugural 1896 Summer Olympics but it was cancelled due to insufficient entries.

Lewis and CANOC members are hopeful adding T20 cricket will encourage Caribbean athletes to become more involved in other recent additions to the Olympics like surfing, skateboarding and 3x3 basketball.

T20 is a shortened game of cricket with each team having a single inning each, which is restricted to a maximum of 20 overs. A typical T20 match can be completed in about three hours and was created to be a more exciting and fast-paced alternative to test cricket which can last five days.

There is also a T10 version of cricket which Eoin Morgan, captain of the England cricket team, and former South African captain Faf du Plessis have publicly supported for inclusion in the Olympics.