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Cricket and the Olympics

Should cricket be part of the Olympics?

  • Yes

    Votes: 14 37.8%
  • No

    Votes: 23 62.2%

  • Total voters
    37

Truekiwijoker

School Boy/Girl Cricketer
I don't think Cricket should ever be at the olympics. It's not very international, takes alot of time and space, is proffessional and doesn't really fit into the olympic spirit.

Although in my opinion there are plenty of sports that are competed at the olympics that shouldn't be for the above reasons...
 

Truekiwijoker

School Boy/Girl Cricketer
Langeveldt said:
How come? Too much rubbish in cricket, too few drugs?
The Olympic spirit was SUPPOSED to be individualistic and sportsmanlike when the first modern olympics were held at the end of the 19th century. Cricket, the sport we all love, is a team sport that while ideally gentlemanly is very much about intrigue and gamesmanship like lawn bowls or croquet.

And in any case, it's hardly the most athletic sport in my opinion.
 

dontcloseyoureyes

BARNES OUT
I'd like to see a Twenty20 tournament in the Olympics, mainly because not only would it provide entertainment, it would surely grab fans from other countries eye, and could make cricket bigger on an international scale.
 

Googenheim

U19 12th Man
yes, it should be played in the Winter Olympics, in a timeless test format on pitches prepared according to guidelines laid down by the curators of the Faisalabad and Antigua grounds. In order to improve spectator attendance, the players should wear cycling shorts.
 

Smudge

Hall of Fame Member
dontcloseyoureyes said:
I'd like to see a Twenty20 tournament in the Olympics, mainly because not only would it provide entertainment, it would surely grab fans from other countries eye, and could make cricket bigger on an international scale.
But that's not the idea of the Olympics. It's to bring global sports together in one large festival.
 

open365

International Vice-Captain
No,it would be a pointless trophy,i know it's the olympics and all that,but i couldn't honestly care whether England won the olympics or not and i also don't care how much exposure it brings to non-playing countries.

The world cup is the only cricketing trophy between more than 3 teams thaat anyone cares about and it should stay that way.
 

danish

U19 12th Man
Cricket has been played at the Commonwealth Games, with South Africa being the only Cricket team to ever receive a Commonwealth Games gold medal, which is the only major tournament they've won.
 

Neil Pickup

Cricket Web Moderator
danish said:
Cricket has been played at the Commonwealth Games, with South Africa being the only Cricket team to ever receive a Commonwealth Games gold medal, which is the only major tournament they've won.
Once could argue that it wasn't a major tournament...
 

sirjeremy11

State Vice-Captain
Agreed. It was, how shall I put it, Mickey Mouse. The one thing interesting about it was the fact the Aus put out a full team as they wanted the Gold so bad, but lost the final.
 

swede

School Boy/Girl Captain
yes one olympic cricket game so far,, uk v "france"

Cricket certainly warrants a place in the olympics compared to other sports.
Its played on all continents and can stage likely winners from all continents, which is most unusual and on top of that the number of people following the sport is collossal due to asia and possibly second only to football. It even introduces countries that usually win next to no medals yet have a near quarter of the world´s population.
If the olympics is a meeting place for world sports its ridiculous that cricket isnt there.

Ok its a small sport in most countries but where exactly is water polo a big and passionately followed sport? and how many countries really love volleyball or handball or curling or speed-skating, synchronized swimming, biathlon or speed-walking or most other sports

However I dont actually want it there for a number of reasons, especially the fact that it cant really be staged properly within the olympics and just like football and tennis it will not be something players really want to win but more of a sideshow.
 

Smudge

Hall of Fame Member
dontcloseyoureyes said:
Honestly, how many of the sports in the Olympics today are truly worldwide sports?
It's probably best just to look at team sports:

Volleyball - yes
Basketball - yes
Soccer - ummmm, yes
Baseball - will be discontinued from 2012.
Handball - a fair bit more widespread than cricket
Softball - also being discontinued.
 

dontcloseyoureyes

BARNES OUT
Voltman said:
It's probably best just to look at team sports:

Volleyball - yes
Basketball - yes
Soccer - ummmm, yes
Baseball - will be discontinued from 2012.
Handball - a fair bit more widespread than cricket
Softball - also being discontinued.
Handball, more widespread? I can imagine it being played on a larger scale, but when I watched it at the last Olympics it only struck me as a strictly European sport.
 

Slats4ever

International Vice-Captain
it should be included on a rotation policy i reckon. there should be 10 sports that are played every second olympics and they alternate with eachother. cricket should be one of them.
 

andyc

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
dontcloseyoureyes said:
Handball, more widespread? I can imagine it being played on a larger scale, but when I watched it at the last Olympics it only struck me as a strictly European sport.
Yeah agreed. Cricket is definetely more widespread than handball.

And Ian, what you suggested sounds like a good idea. Can't ever see it happening though.
 

marc71178

Eyes not spreadsheets
The problem with putting Cricket in is when a non-Cricket playing country hosts the games, where do they hold the Cricket?
 

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