Cricket in Olympics good source of alternative revenue, believes ICC

Cricket has not been played at the Summer Games since it featured only once in Paris 1900.

Cricket is facing tough competition from sports like football, F1 and basketball in a bid to attract western audience. The last time cricket was played at a global event was in 1900 at the Summer Olympic Games in Paris. There have been attempts to bring back cricket as an Olympic sport in recent years by Giles Clarke. The International Cricket Council (ICC) is now trying its level best to do the same. According to a report in Indian Express, ICC is looking at the prospect of cricket in Olympics as an avenue of money.

A Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) official was quoted saying, “All these need to come to the general body. The members will decide.” ICC believes that tapping into the Chinese market will be a big boost of the economics of the game. They are looking at alternative source of revenues other than Indian market.

However, CoA chief Vinod Rai had his reservations. He said: “The BCCI has played cricket in the Commonwealth Games (the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Games). So the BCCI is not averse to participating in multi-sport events. Why they stopped, we don’t know. If cricket gets into the Olympics, the ICC would create a cycle (for the World T20) such that the two don’t clash.”