Cliff Notes – GB cricket team one step closer to fruition for Los Angeles Olympics
- A Great Britain cricket team, including players from England, Scotland, and potentially Northern Ireland, is nearing ratification by the ECB and cricket Scotland for the 2028 Olympics.
- GB cricket will be governed by a board with representatives from the ECB and cricket Scotland, and an MOU with cricket Ireland will allow Northern Irish players to compete.
- The qualification process for the six-team tournament is yet to be established, but England’s teams will serve as the primary qualification vehicle for Team GB.
GB cricket team one step closer to fruition for Los Angeles Olympics
A Great Britain (GB) team, comprising men’s and women’s players from England, Scotland and potentially Northern Ireland – is one step closer to being ratified by the England and Wales cricket Board (ECB) and cricket Scotland, ahead of cricket’s return to the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028.
A new entity, GB cricket, is being formulated for what would be the men’s team’s de facto defence of a title they last won in Paris in 1900, in cricket’s last appearance at the Olympics.
The activities of GB cricket are to be overseen by a board with both executive and non-executive representatives from the ECB and cricket Scotland. An MOU will also be put in place with cricket Ireland to give Northern Irish players an opportunity to compete at the Olympics, too.
Will Ireland be part of the GB team
Given that cricket Ireland is a body that represents both Northern Ireland and the Republic, it is unlikely that its players would seek qualification for GB cricket.
However, Paul Stirling, Ireland’s white-ball captain, is among a core of Northern Ireland-based players, including Mark Adair, Andy McBrine, and the Ireland women’s wicketkeeper Amy Hunter, who could be eligible for the tournament.
GB cricket is expected to be officially constituted in the coming months, and it would then need to be officially recognised by the International cricket Council (ICC) and the British Olympic Association (BOA) before becoming a full member of the National Olympic Committee (NOC). According to an ECB spokesperson, an agreement in principle with the ICC is already in place.
The qualification process has yet to be established for what is expected to be a six-team tournament. However, it has already been agreed that England’s men’s and women’s teams would be the qualification vehicle for Team GB, with the Scotland and Northern Ireland players available thereafter.
It’s a further consideration for England’s new white-ball captain, Harry Brook, whose reboot of the team’s fortunes is set to begin with the first ODI against West Indies at Edgbaston on Thursday.
“That would be pretty cool to be able to play in the Olympics and get an Olympic gold medal,” Brook said. “But it’s so far away, it’s miles away yet. I haven’t even thought about that yet.”