"Can only be a positive thing for our game" - Ricky Ponting excited by cricket's return in 2028 Olympics
Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting expressed his excitement about cricket's return to the Olympic games in 2028 for the first time in a jaw-dropping 128 years. The Tasmanian admitted that one of the main agendas in many committee meetings he attended over the years was plotting cricket's return to the Olympics.
Cricket was last part of the Olympic Games in 1900 in France but it hasn't been able to make its entry ever since for numerous reasons. Last year, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) agreed to a request for cricket's inclusion in the 2028 edition, staged by Los Angeles.
Speaking on an episode of the ICC Review, Ponting said he expects the MLC to play a major role in cricket's growth in the USA in the coming years and sees the game in the Olympics as a positive thing.
"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."
USA were also the co-hosts of this year's T20 World Cup and crowds had shown up in considerable numbers. The likes of Pat Cummins, Travis Head, Lockie Ferguson, Sunil Narine, and Shakib Al Hasan played in MLC this year, increasing interest from fans.
"I wouldn't say no" - Ricky Ponting on being a mentor at the Olympics
Ponting has also put his hand up to be a mentor for any team in the Olympics, claiming that the environment would be surreal during the event. He added:
"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."
Cricket was part of the Asian Games last year and India won gold for the same.