Cricket’s inclusion in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics has sparked excitement among cricket enthusiasts worldwide. Legendary Australian cricketer Ricky Ponting believes this opportunity will significantly expand the sport’s reach and popularity.
Ponting, a three-time ODI World Cup winner, recently coached the Washington Freedom to this year’s Major League Cricket title, giving him valuable insight into how cricket is perceived in the USA. He emphasized that the Olympic Games provide a unique platform to expose cricket to a vast new audience.
“The Olympic Games being viewed by so many people all around the world, it just opens up completely different audiences to our game that’s seemingly growing on a daily basis anyway,” said Ponting.
Ponting also pointed out the potential for cricket to tap into baseball’s fanbase in the USA. “The way that I sort of try and compare the two is we’ve all been to games of Major League Baseball. Huge events, the bat and ball game that Americans are growing up with and that game goes for four hours and through the history of the game, there’s less than one home run scored in every game,” he said.
“So when you compare baseball to what the excitement and entertainment package that T20 cricket brings, then it should be a reasonably easy sell to the young kids in the US.”
Ponting expressed his excitement about the possibility of serving as either a mentor or coach for the Australian team at the 2028 Los Angeles 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,” he said.
The inclusion of cricket in the Olympics is a testament to the sport’s growing global appeal. It provides an opportunity for cricket to reach new heights and inspire future generations of players.
