Why Cricket Is Not in Olympics? (8 Determining Factors)

Cricket is one sport that is popular in some parts of the world, but despite this, it still isn’t a global kind of sport yet. It’s a major sport in regions like Southeast Asia, the UK, New Zealand, and much more. It still hasn’t made its way to every corner of the world. Sadly, the sport hasn’t yet become featured in the Olympics. For the most part, this situation is quite confusing. There are still lots of cricket games played internationally with various countries competing against each other, just not at the Olympics. So, why is cricket not in the Olympics?

Cricket isn’t in the Olympics because of these reasons: A lack of interest in the world, lack of interest by cricket boards, absence of playing grounds, a busy cricket calendar, non-cricket playing Olympic host nations, and the long duration of cricket games. 

In this article, we will endeavor to discuss in detail why cricket doesn’t feature in the Olympics and much more. So sit back, relax, and read on to get the inside scoop because this is guaranteed to be an enlightening read for you!

Why Is Cricket Not in the Olympics?

Cricket is one of the world’s most popular sports, but despite this, it still hasn’t found a place in the Olympics. Once in 1900, it did feature in the Olympics, but it has failed to make an impact, and it hasn’t been part of the quadrennial event since.

Cricket was featured as an event in the 1900 Paris Olympics. This experiment failed, and one of the reasons for this is that the game isn’t played by a majority of the nations around the world, unlike track games, for example.

Don’t get me wrong, this game does have a huge fan base around the world, and it is probably only second to soccer in that regard. This, however, hasn’t done any good for the sport when it comes to being part of the Olympics. Even though cricket is played in 105 countries across the world, only a handful of national teams have Test status. Moreover, the Cricket World Cup only features a maximum of 10-12 teams, making it hard to include multiple teams.

All in all, it is a sad state of affairs that such a popular sport isn’t part of the Olympics. But what are some of the factors that work against the inclusion of cricket in the Olympics?

1. Duration of games (Time factor)

Before the T20 format, which takes 3 hours, was introduced, the closest format for inclusion in the Olympics was the ODIs. An ODI match has a total of 100 overs, and it would take up to 8 hours for a single game to be completed. So, if cricket was to be included, this would greatly disturb the duration of the Olympics as a whole if several teams were to compete.

So, one of the reasons cricket isn’t in the Olympics is due to the time factor. It would take a whole month or even more for the Olympics to end if a significant number of cricket teams were to compete.

2. Absence of venues/playing grounds

Cricket requires special grounds, and no other Olympic event can take place in such a venue. This, therefore, makes it impossible to conduct the Olympics in one venue if cricket is included. Cricket matches would have to be played separately, and this would increase the costs quite significantly. The organization of the event would be difficult since there would have to be a significant number of grounds for the cricket matches to be hosted.

3. A packed cricket calendar

All cricket-playing nations usually have their cricket teams scheduled for matches all year round. With such a busy schedule, in addition to the major ICC tournaments such as the 50-Over World Cup, T20 World Cup, World Test Championship, and the Champions Trophy- it would be impossible to include cricket in the Olympics. The schedules would be crazy and too much for players.

4. Lack of interest by cricket boards

Accepting to participate in the Olympics requires a cricket board to lose a certain amount of independence to the constituted national Olympics committee. The Indian Premier League would also clash with the Olympics event, and for the most part, this wouldn’t be a tolerable loss for the IPL. Powerful cricket boards like the BCCI will therefore not give in to the demands of an Olympic committee, and neither would the Olympic committee. They neither want to put in the funds nor endanger their reputations.

5. Lack of interest from the world

According to Wikipedia, there are about 104 member countries of the International Cricket Council. However, only 8-10 teams can be termed as being professional level. There is, therefore, a lack of interest in the other member countries that can be termed as emerging cricket nations. What’s more, the governing body of the Olympics, the International Olympic Committee, has most of its members not being part of those 8-10 nations.

6. Non-cricket playing Olympic host nations

The countries that host the Olympics don’t play cricket. This has worked against the inclusion of cricket in the Olympics. There will be a chance for the inclusion of cricket in the Olympics if a cricket-playing country gets to host the Olympics.

7. Unwillingness by cricket playing nations

The leading cricket-playing nations show very little interest in getting cricket included in the Olympics. Financially sound cricket boards like the BCCI, ECB, and Cricket Australia have made no visible efforts for some mysterious reason.

8. Government involvement

The ICC currently advises the Governments of Test-playing nations to have minimal control over the sport. Cricket teams are currently formed and managed by non-governmental authorities to maintain the quality of the sport. If cricket is ever to be included in the Olympics, the government will become actively involved and take control over the selection of the teams. This would harm the quality of the game, which isn’t desirable.

Is Cricket Coming to the Olympics?

As I have earlier mentioned, cricket was only played once in the Olympics in Paris, 1900, with France and Great Britain being the only participants. The International Cricket Council has made it known that it will actively campaign for the inclusion of the game in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. So, cricket may be coming to the Olympics, but this will likely not occur until 2028. 

In conclusion, currently, the traditional cricketing nations have nothing to gain by participating in the Olympics. Unless things change drastically, it’s highly unlikely we’ll see cricket being played at the Olympics any time soon.