“Can only be a positive thing for our game” – Ricky Ponting excited by cricket’s return in 2028 Olympics

Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting feels cricket’s reintroduction in the 2028 Olympics will be a positive thing for the game. Cricket was last played at the games, back in 1900 with France claiming the gold medal.

The Paris Olympics 2024 concluded on Sunday with USA topping the medals tally and the next Olympics will be hosted by Los Angeles. Cricket will be included in the next Games and will be played in the Twenty20 format.

Ricky Ponting said on the ICC review, “It can only be a positive thing for our game. I’ve sat on various committees over the last 15 or 20 years and it’s always been on the top of almost every agenda – how do we get the game back into the Olympics? And finally, it’s there. It’s only four years away. Once again, in the US by that stage, hopefully, with MLC (Major League Cricket), another four years down the track hopefully growing.”

“Who knows, there might even be more teams in the MLC by then. I think it also gives cricket a chance to break into the grassroots level in the US. But the thing about the Olympic Games, I mean, it’s not the host nation. It’s about the audience that it opens up.”

Meanwhile, the USA also co-hosted the recently concluded T20 World Cup, which India won after beating South Africa by seven runs in the final. The likes of Steve Smith, Pat Cummins, Sunil Narine, Travis Head, and Shakib Al Hasan also took part in the Major Cricket League and thus drew interest from American fans.

Ponting also opened up on the opportunity of coaching a cricket team during the Olympics.

“It’d be a pretty nice job, I reckon, to be a mentor around a cricket team in the Olympic Games, to hang out. I was lucky enough to play in the Commonwealth Games and just to be around the athletes in the villages and stuff was quite a surreal environment to be in for a cricketer.

“So, look, I wouldn’t say no, but I think there’ll be a lot of people putting their hands up to try and be a mentor or a coach for an Aussie team in the Olympic Games.”