Cricket seeks Olympic status

2007-08-29 13:53

New Delhi - Cricket has applied to join the Olympic movement so that the sport can become part of the Summer Games, the International Cricket Council said on Wednesday.

ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed said the governing body was "in the process" of securing membership of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), adding that Twenty20 cricket would suit the Games.

"The ICC is in the process of seeking membership of the IOC which will be completed by this year and the long-term objective is to have cricket in the Olympics," Speed told reporters.

"For cricket to be in the Olympics, Twenty20 will be the ideal format because we can play the tournament in two weeks which is also the duration of the Olympics."

Cricket was played at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Malaysia and is billed to be part of the 2010 Asian Games in the Chinese city of Guangzhou.

The ICC said in June it had 101 member nations, but only nine teams - Australia, England, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, New Zealand, South Africa and the combined West Indies region - currently play the sport at the highest Test level.

- AFP