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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

andyc

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
marc71178 said:
The problem with putting Cricket in is when a non-Cricket playing country hosts the games, where do they hold the Cricket?
They build a stadium I guess, or get a pitch temprorarily installed in a few nearby stadiums. And, if cricket were part of the Olympics, all this would have been taken into account when deciding who actually got the Olympics for that year, so we wouldn't have this problem.
 

Josh

International Regular
Voltman said:
That's not the IOC's problem though.

Cricket is not global enough for the Olympics. And that's the crux of the matter.
Cricket is the third-most popular "ball sport" in the world.
 

Josh

International Regular
swede said:
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.
And basketball, apparently.

swede said:
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
I concur.
 

Scaly piscine

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Basketball is dubious, these were the tables from the last olympics:

Group A W L PTS
ESP 5 0 10
ITA 3 2 8
ARG 3 2 8
CHN 2 3 7
NZL 1 4 6
SCG 1 4 6

Group B W L PTS
LTU 5 0 10
GRE 3 2 8
PUR 3 2 8
USA 3 2 8
AUS 1 4 6
ANG 0 5 5

Since Australia/NZ are 9th and 10th best overall there, how big is basketball there compared to the respective teams in cricket - Bangladesh and Zimbabwe?


Oh and in case anyone is curious, SCG is Serbia and Montenegro, ANG is Angola.
 
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chaminda_00

Hall of Fame Member
Scaly piscine said:
Basketball is dubious, these were the tables from the last olympics:

Group A W L PTS
ESP 5 0 10
ITA 3 2 8
ARG 3 2 8
CHN 2 3 7
NZL 1 4 6
SCG 1 4 6

Group B W L PTS
LTU 5 0 10
GRE 3 2 8
PUR 3 2 8
USA 3 2 8
AUS 1 4 6
ANG 0 5 5

Since Australia/NZ are 9th and 10th best overall there, how big is basketball there compared to the respective teams in cricket - Bangladesh and Zimbabwe?


Oh and in case anyone is curious, SCG is Serbia and Montenegro, ANG is Angola.
Basketball is pretty big in Australia and Serbia and growing in NZ. I would say they they have bigger suport then cricket in Kenya and Zimbabwe and below. Bangladesh is a different story as they mad about cricket. Angola only made the Olympics as they had to have a team from Africa.
 

marc71178

Eyes not spreadsheets
andyc said:
And, if cricket were part of the Olympics, all this would have been taken into account when deciding who actually got the Olympics for that year, so we wouldn't have this problem.
Which would then stop 90% of the nations from hosting the Games.
 

Smudge

Hall of Fame Member
Josh said:
Cricket is the third-most popular "ball sport" in the world.
That's no surprise when India is part of the cricketing fraternity... that doesn't make it global though.
 

dro87

U19 12th Man
i think cricket should be in the twenty20 format in the olimpics, and it could be played on drop-on pitches, with no problem... Maybe the purist of the game wont be happy, but the minnows would gain experience, fans and honour, while the "test" teams would have a esy opportunity to grab a medal...
However in Italy water polo is quite big, and so is volleyball and basketball (still nothing compered to soccer)
 

andyc

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Langeveldt said:
whats the second most popular ball sport, tennis?
Guess so. I thought golf would've been up there though.

Edit: After reading the last page, I see that it's basketball, according to Josh.
 

Truekiwijoker

School Boy/Girl Cricketer
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
Or perhaps not...

dontcloseyoureyes said:
and could make cricket bigger on an international scale.
Who wants that?
There two too many test teams at the moment anyway. Worst of all, the yanks might start playing it, what a disaster that would be!
 

Truekiwijoker

School Boy/Girl Cricketer
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.
This further reinforces my point. Of those mentioned, the two to be discontinued are the two that are the most like Cricket, and share with Cricket the attributes I've previously mentioned which make Cricket unsuitable for Olymipic cometition. Those others are all more in line with what the Olympics should be all about, for a start they're more athletic...

And in any case, despite its Olympic apperance, Baseball isn't played much outside of North America, Cuba and Japan. While softall remains a 'soft' sport. It inclusion in the Olympics as a 'demonstration sport' has NOT increased international interest.
 
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Truekiwijoker

School Boy/Girl Cricketer
Josh said:
Cricket is the third-most popular "ball sport" in the world.

:laugh: That doesn't mean it is 'global' does it?

Only eight countries, all British commonwealth can seriously compete at Cricket. NOT Global.
 
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cameeel

International Captain
chaminda_00 said:
Basketball is pretty big in Australia and Serbia and growing in NZ. I would say they they have bigger suport then cricket in Kenya and Zimbabwe and below. Bangladesh is a different story as they mad about cricket. Angola only made the Olympics as they had to have a team from Africa.
Basketball certainly isnt big in Australia, and as far as i know it's not getting any better, there is a national league, but i cant even name the Victorian team.

But if Horse-Riding & Synchronised Swimming can make it as olympic sports, as well as the aformentioned Handball & Baseball, then surely cricket can?
 

Langeveldt

Soutie
Truekiwijoker said:
:laugh: That doesn't mean it is 'global' does it?

Only eight countries, all British commonwealth can seriously compete at Cricket. NOT Global.
Well what defines global? When you can pitch up in Nepal with a bat and have a game with kids that have never spoken English, then you get an idea as to where things are going.. Guess it depends how seriously you want people to play, you could argue that only a handful of latin American and European countries have a hope at winning the football world cup
 

Josh

International Regular
Voltman said:
That's no surprise when India is part of the cricketing fraternity... that doesn't make it global though.
It can be found in 120 countries.
 

Josh

International Regular
Langeveldt said:
Well what defines global? When you can pitch up in Nepal with a bat and have a game with kids that have never spoken English, then you get an idea as to where things are going.. Guess it depends how seriously you want people to play, you could argue that only a handful of latin American and European countries have a hope at winning the football world cup
That's a fair point.
 

Josh

International Regular
andyc said:
Guess so. I thought golf would've been up there though.

Edit: After reading the last page, I see that it's basketball, according to Josh.
According to encarta.
 

Smudge

Hall of Fame Member
Josh said:
It can be found in 120 countries.
That doesn't make it global though. How many teams are competitive in international cricket? Eight on a good day.
 

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