Twenty20 in 2020?

Date released: 21 November 2008

There are growing calls for the increasingly popular Twenty20 format of cricket to be included in the Olympics.

The London Assembly recently voted unanimously to "...urge the 2012 organisers to work with the International Cricket Council and International Olympic committee".

The MCC World Cricket Committee addressed the issue at their latest meeting in New Dehli, India.

Waugh: 'Olympics should be pinacle' Former Australia cricket captain and MCC World Cricket Committee member, Steve Waugh, led the Committee's debate.

Waugh went to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, as a mentor to the Australia team.

The Committee backed Waugh's opinion that: "Twenty20 cricket should become an Olympic sport if, and only if, it was to become the pinnacle of that format of the game for players."

Too late for London?

London Assembly member Murad Qureshi is lobbying to have cricket included in the 2012 Games in London. Qureshi has started an online petition to gauge support for the proposal.

It is too late to have the sport added to the official Olympic list. The usual route is for a sport to begin as a 'showcase' event before being elevated to full Olmypic status.

Archery - coming to Lord's in the 2012 Olympics The Olympic host nation usually include a national sport as a 'showcase' event - China showcased Wushu, a full-contact martial art in Beijing.

Qureshi said in London's Evening Standard: "If the Chinese can show Wushu to the world, I can see no reason why London shouldn't have cricket in 2012. It is this country's summer game after all."

However, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge has said that cricket will not be considered as a new Olympic sport until the 2020 Games at the earliest.

Whether cricket is included or not, Lord's will be busy during London 2012, hosting the Olympic archery events.