Date, venues set for cricket's much-hyped return to Olympics at LA 2028

Cricket's highly anticipated return to the Olympics programme at the LA 2028 Games will transpire around 50 km from Los Angeles, at the Fairgrounds Stadium in the city of Pomona, from July 12. The medal matches are scheduled on July 20 and 29, 2028.

Making a return to the Olympic Games after 125 years, cricket at LA 2028 will see a total of six teams each in the men's and women's sections battling it out for the medals. A whopping 180 players will compete in the T20 format in the quadrennial marquee event, which hosted cricket for the first and only time in 1900.

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Most of the matchdays will be double headers with no games scheduled on July 14 and 21, as per the competition schedule released by the organisers.

The only time cricket was played at the Olympics was in Paris in 1900, with only two teams, Great Britain and France, competing in a two-day match, with the former winning the match and the gold.

With a total of 90 athlete quotas allocated in the men's and women's categories, the 12 participating nations can name 15-member squads.

Cricket at LA will boost the growing popularity of the sport in America with three venues in the United States - Grand Prairie, Lauderhill, and New York - all ready to host blockbuster cricketing action after the successful staging of the 2024 T20 World Cup, which India won after defeating South Africa in a thrilling final.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) have included cricket, baseball/softball, flag football, lacrosse (sixes) and squash as five new sports to feature at the 2028 Games.

"When the world comes here for these Games, we will highlight every neighbourhood as we host a Games for all and work to ensure it leaves a monumental legacy.

"We are already delivering that legacy as we announce there have been more than one million enrollments in PlayLA. I want to thank LA28 and the International Olympic Committee for making these programs possible and for their continued work to host the greatest Games yet," said Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass in a statement. 

The LA Olympics will begin exactly after three years with the opening ceremony scheduled for July 14, 2028.