Cricket in Olympics: Bring it on!

Pratik Dogra Cricket for Olympics! That’s the buzz doing rounds in the cricket fraternity almost since the Beijing Games commenced. Cricketing world is a small family of just nine permanent members. A family usually on the verge of a split every now and then, is united like never before, by the idea of an Olympic event being set alight by the sight of leather hitting the willow. A host of ‘All time greats’ as well as several contemporary stalwarts of the game can’t fathom the fact why they miss out on the world’s biggest sporting spectacle. Aussie captain Ricky Ponting gets excited visualising his kids, and those of his team-mates, at future Games. His predecessor Steve Waugh sees Olympics as a perfect instrument to globalize cricket. Back home, Sourav Ganguly finds the Twenty20 format exciting enough to strike a chord with the world audience. The idea gets more support from many including former Stephen Fleming and Kumar Sangakkara.

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And to be fair to them, one can relate to their grief. The fact that someone like Sachin Tendulkar, who has dedicated two decades of his life to cricket, but doesn’t get to represent his country at the biggest congregation of sportspersons is a tad unfair. Former Australian wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist even calls it a win-win situation for both the ICC and the IOC, suggesting that the inclusion of cricket in Olympics would help IOC penetrate the sub-continental subconscious, which is home to a quarter of the world’s population. Their enthusiasm is buoyed by the fact that popularity of cricket currently, is at its highest, almost 130 years after the first Test match was played. The emergence of Twenty20 format has helped the game break its shackles and spread its wings to a wider audience. That apart, there are plenty of reasons why it might be high time that cricket should be allowed to make the cut. But first let’s get it clear about what being an Olympic sport actually implies. In its website, the IOC declares that a sport or a discipline is included in the Olympic program if it is ‘determined that it is widely practiced around the world, that is, the number of countries that compete in a given sport is the indicator of the sport`s prevalence’. Cricket does fulfill this criterion. It is widely acknowledged as the fastest growing team sport in the world, with more than a hundred full, associate and affiliated members across the six continents! China, USA, Canada are some of the rapidly emerging hubs of cricket. From a marketing perspective, cricket is an out and out television sport. The humongous amounts shelled out by broadcasters for television rights for cricket matches bear testimony to the fact. As far as Twenty20 is concerned, the only direction these figures would go is up. If cricket is included in Olympics, the number of eyeballs an England-Australia clash or an India-Pakistan match will garner (thanks in no small measure to the Asian communities), is anybody’s guess! Indeed, the game that we know as cricket is no longer what it was, even 5 years ago. It has got more thrills and frills. It’s a perfect three hour entertainment package. The stereotype image of a cricketer, a gentleman in white flannels, who needs two breaks within a day’s proceedings, no longer holds good. A modern day cricketer’s fitness levels are at par with international athletes of other disciplines. The Twenty20 is played as much to the gallery as (I daresay) a 100 mt sprint. A 6 sixes in an over feat by Yuvraj Singh is as mind-numbing as Usain Bolts’ triple gold effort. Sreesanth’s antics can be as endearing (or infuriating) as Bolts’. A noted cricket writer Andrew Miller, writing for Cricinfo, feels that cricket doesn’t submit to the spirit of Olympics. “The Olympics should be the pinnacle of an athlete`s career, and if it is not, then the sport has no place on the schedule”, he writes. He further feels that cricket would fail on two counts. “Firstly, the chosen format for Olympic inclusion would have to be the short and disposable Twenty20, because the truly Olympian version of the game, Test cricket, would be impenetrable to the game`s new-found global audience. Secondly, the calendar is simply too crowded for the players to treat the trip with anything like the gravitas it would deserve”. As far as ‘Olympics being the pinnacle of an athlete’s career’ is concerned, the statement doesn’t hold true for many existing disciplines. Ask a tennis player and he will tell you how much more a Grand Slam would mean to him than an Olympic gold. (They may not be vocal…but their actions betray words). In fact, the Beijing Olympics were the first event to witness so many top ranked players competing. Soccer in Olympics is nothing more than an under-23 World Cup, at best a breeding ground for youngsters. Besides, if and when cricket is included in Olympics, there is no reason why it cannot supersede The Ashes and the likes as the pinnacle event. The other point raised by Mr Miller is that if cricket is included, it has to be the short and disposable Twenty20. Post the Twenty20 World Cup and the Indian Premier League, it has been amply proved that the future belongs to this fast food format. With due respect to the purists, adaptability is the key to survival….and prosperity. The final point raised by Mr Miller also doesn’t stand ground. The eagerness displayed by cricketers to compete in Olympics and the prospects of recognition on the world stage, should be enough for players not to treat the trip with anything but the gravitas it deserves. If a 6-week IPL can be fitted out of nowhere, a 2-week window for the Olympics shouldn’t be a problem. The game of cricket is at the thresh hold of a new era. The advent of Twenty20 has acted as the catalyst to initiate wholesome changes to the game. It is more global, more receptive, and more ready for the rest of the world. With cricket marking its presence at the Guangzhou Asian Games (2010), one can’t help but share Ricky Ponting’s optimism. Cricket in Olympics are ‘just a matter of time’. For full coverage on BEIJING OLYMPICS, Click Here »