Cricket has only been played at one Olympics, in Paris in 1900. However, it will return from 2028 in Los Angeles.
The 1900 cricket “tournament” was a single game between Great Britain and France, though neither side was made up of players from the main national team. The game was held with one innings a side but only scheduled for two days, and featured 12 players on each team. For that reason it’s not considered a first class game.
The main reason for cricket’s absence from the Olympics is that its governing body, the ICC, has not previously supported involvement. Other factors include cricket at top level being restricted to a few geographic areas. Historically, cricket being a multi-day game has limited the potential to run a full tournament in the course of a couple of weeks. It’s also often been questionable whether an Olympic medal would be considered the ultimate achievement for the players, which some people argue should be a requirement for a sport’s inclusion.
Cricket will be included in the 2028 Olympics. Sports are no longer added as a “demonstration events” so it will be considered a full event with medals awarded to the top three teams. It is being added as an optional sport. That means that, as things stand, it will only feature in future Olympics if the host nation selects it as one of a maximum of six optional sports, something that seems likely for the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane, Australia. It is possible cricket will eventually be upgraded to a core sport and automatically feature in all future Olympics.
Qualification Format
The 2028 competition will involve men’s and women’s competitions in the T20 format with six countries in each competition, made up as follows:
- One qualifier from each of four regions (Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania)
- One slot reserved for the host nation (USA), subject to it reaching the top 15 of the world rankings at any point in the second half of 2026.
- One slot filled through a global qualification tournament in early 2028. This will feature the seven highest ranked teams that have not qualified through other routes, plus the winners of a Caribbean nations tournament. (The West Indies is not eligible to compete in the Olympics.)
It appears two teams will be eligible for qualification from the British Isles. A Great Britain team is eligible, with qualification based on the England team performance and rankings. The Republic of Ireland is also eligible, with players in Northern Ireland able to choose whether to play for Great Britain or Republic of Ireland.
2028 Qualifiers
The regional qualification for the women has already been decided based on performance in the 2026 T20 World Cup with Australia (Oceania), Great Britain (Europe), India (Asia), and South Africa (Africa) qualifying. The USA has not yet secured its host nation slot. If it fails to do so, its slot will go to the highest placing team in the 2027 ICC Champions Trophy event that has not already qualified.
For the men, the regional qualification will be based on rankings at the end of 2026. The USA has already secured its host nation slot by reaching the top 15 of the world rankings.