ANI
13 Aug 2019, 07:57 GMT+10
London [UK], Aug 13 (ANI): The International Cricket Council (ICC) remains hopeful of making it to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, Marylebone Cricket Club's World Cricket Committee chairman Mike Gatting confirmed on Monday.
Gatting also went on to say that ICC chief executive Manu Sawhney assured the MCC's Cricket Committee about the strong progress that has been made to give the game a global platform.
"We were talking with Manu Sawhney the ICC chief exec, and he was very hopeful we can get cricket into the 2028 Olympics. That's what they're working towards at the moment and that would be a huge bonus for cricket worldwide, it would be fantastic," ESPN Cricinfo quoted Gatting as saying.
Gatting also ensured that scheduling a two-week window period for the Olympics is not that difficult for the ICC as the event comes along once in four years.
"It's two weeks, that's a good thing about it, it's not a month, so it's one of those events where scheduling for two weeks should be fine once every four years once you do the first one. You're going to have - one hopes - a four-year period, once you know you've been accepted into the Olympics, that gives you a chance to actually shape your two weeks, so it's not as if it is butted into the schedule," Gatting said.
On August 9, India's Union Sports Secretary Radhey Shyam Julaniya revealed that the BCCI has agreed to come under the National Anti Doping Agency (NADA). Gatting welcomed this move, saying the sport will now be a whole.
"I think the next 18 months will be very interesting as to how we do that. One of the problems has been negated, where the BCCI is now working with NADA, the drugs agency, which it wasn't previously a part of," Gatting said.
That will help a long way towards the sport being whole, which is what we need it to apply for the Olympics, both men and women to play and all countries to comply," he added.
Earlier this year, the ICC had announced that women's cricket has been nominated for the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games. If the sport gets formally included, then it will be the first time that the sport will be included in the event since 1998 in Kuala Lampur.
Gatting said that the ICC would be releasing a statement in the coming days regarding the confirmation of inclusion of women's cricket in the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
"I believe there's going to be a statement out in the next two days or even tomorrow just to confirm the women are going to be playing in the Commonwealth Games at Edgbaston. We're hoping they're going to get the nod on that, which will be fantastic," Gatting said.
The MCC Committee also discussed the security situation in Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Regarding the situation in Sri Lanka, committee member Kumar Sangakkara expected the England tour to go on as scheduled in Sri Lanka.
"All countries do their independent assessments about security and the level of threat and I feel those questions have been answered very satisfactorily up to now. I don't see that changing for the England tour but we will see discussions going ahead. I played cricket at heightened times of trouble in Sri Lanka and we've had those arrangements in place for teams to tour the country," Sangakkara said.
Talking about Pakistan, Gatting said that some security concerns still remain in the country, adding that the concerns will need to be eradicated first to make everyone happy.
"We had a brief presentation from PCB managing director Wasim Khan. As MCC, I think we can see there are some safety issues that are still there, but I suspect if those can be overcome everybody is happy, then I don't see why there's any reason we can't organise an MCC tour there, and other teams would have to make their own assessment of how safe it is to play there. One hopes it won't be long before they can convince people it is a lot safer than it was and as soon as that's the case, MCC will look at sending a touring party over," Gatting said. (ANI)Get a daily dose of Irish Sun news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Irish Sun.
More InformationWASHINGTON, D.C.: The U.S. government is preparing to revise its influential dietary advice, with a significant shift: dropping the...
ZURICH, Switzerland: The U.S. saw an extraordinary rise in wealth last year, with more than 1,000 people crossing into millionaire...
THE HAGUE, Netherlands: The city that prides itself on being a beacon of peace and justice—home to institutions like the International...
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina: Since taking office in December 2023, Argentine President Javier Milei has implemented sweeping austerity...
LEMBATA, Indonesia: Indonesia's Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki erupted dramatically on June 18, generating substantial ash and smoke plumes....
MADRID, Spain: A routine oversight by Spain's power grid operator, REE, has been identified as the trigger behind the large-scale blackout...
THE HAGUE, Netherlands: The city that prides itself on being a beacon of peace and justice—home to institutions like the International...
DUBLIN, Ireland: Fine Gael Senator Mark Duffy says new laws to regulate vaping products will help make them less attractive to young...
MADRID, Spain: A routine oversight by Spain's power grid operator, REE, has been identified as the trigger behind the large-scale blackout...
DUBLIN, Ireland: Egyptian authorities released Paul Murphy, TD, from the People Before Profit party after his second detention on June...
DUBLIN, Ireland: In a significant demonstration outside Leinster House in Dublin, hundreds of housing protesters voiced their frustration...
PARIS, France: The Paris Airshow kicked off on June 16, attracting attention with expected aircraft orders, but overshadowed by the...