Cricket in the Olympics?

Quote:Olympic officials have told the International Cricket Council they will not accept a watered-down version of the sport if it is to be included in the 2024 Games.

Six-a-side matches, as well as games on the beach or indoors, have been mooted as formats while cricket decides whether to follow the lead of sports such as rugby and golf and apply for Olympic status.

But at a recent meeting at IOC headquarters in Lausanne, ICC officials are understood to have been told that cricket’s inclusion would be dependent on the presence of the world’s best players. Twenty20 is considered the likeliest format.

Even so, both sides emerged from the talks in Switzerland feeling positive about the possibility of cricket rejoining the Olympic family after an absence stretching back to the 1900 Games in Paris, when Great Britain beat France in the tournament’s only game.

The IOC are keen to tap into India’s lucrative TV audience, while cricket would stand to benefit to the tune of millions of dollars of government investment – essentially free money as far as the ICC are concerned.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cricket...icket.html

I actually quite enjoyed the Hong Kong Sixes tournament from yesteryear. I would actually be in favour of that as opposed to another T20 tournament but it doesn't sound like that will ever happen.

2024 : Yikes that's 9 years away !

As a cricket fan I also don't want to see a watered down version of the game either. If it's to be included in the Olympics then it should be as the sport is, and one that we all love.

What's wrong with including a T20 style competition in the Olympics in all its glory? Same rules and number of players. That is what people want to see, otherwise it's like including soccer but just making it a 5-a-side tournament, worthless.

I am sure there are those that will argue that T20 in itself is a watered down format of the game. One of the problems in getting the worlds best players to play in the Olympics is the timing. Will players be willing to turn down big pay days from the CPL and NatWest Blast T20 tournaments that take place during the summer months?

I mentioned it previously, but I would be in favour of bringing back the Hong Kong Sixes.

I think when the idea of T20 cricket was first around, there was a lot of sceptics saying it's a watered down version of cricket, but recently I'm not hearing that half as much.

The players like playing it, the fans like watching it, and the authorities like the revenue it brings in. For a so called watered down, goes against the grain type of format of a sport, it's not doing to badly.