Cricket Returns to the Olympics at LA 2028

For the first time in more than a century, cricket will officially be part of the Olympic Games after organizers of the LA 2028 Olympics confirmed the sport’s return after a significant absence.

Both the men’s and women’s cricket tournaments will be played in the T20 format, featuring six teams each. The decision, approved by the International Olympic Committee’s Executive Board, will allow each participating nation to field a 15-member squad. The LA Olympics will mark cricket’s first Olympic appearance since the Paris 1900 Games, where a one-off match between Great Britain and France was held.

While qualification details for the Olympic tournaments are expected to be finalized closer to the event, the cricket world will be watching closely to see how the six participating teams for each competition are determined. With Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, the West Indies, Zimbabwe, and a myriad of associate nations all in play, the ICC will quickly need to formulate a qualification plan to avoid any confusion.

India and New Zealand will head into the Olympic cycle as the reigning men’s and women’s T20 world champions, respectively, which may be enough to confirm their participation.

While the tournament format and athlete quotas are locked in, the venues for cricket at LA 2028 have yet to be announced. Details regarding the full competition schedule will also be confirmed in the lead-up to the Games.

The move to include cricket at LA 2028 reflects the sport’s expanding footprint across global multi-sport events in recent years. Men’s cricket featured at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, while women’s cricket made its Commonwealth debut at Birmingham 2022. Both the men’s and women’s games have also been part of the Asian Games program in 2010, 2014, and 2023.

Now, cricket will step onto the grandest sporting stage of all — the Olympics — joining a group of new sports added for the LA 2028 Games alongside baseball/softball, flag football, lacrosse (sixes), and squash.