Women’s Cricket made its maiden appearance in the Commonwealth Games in the year 2022, hosted by Birmingham. The Indian team led by skipper Harmanpreet Kaur finished on the podium with a silver medal, alongside the gold medalist Australia led by skipper Meg Lanning, and the bronze medalist, New Zealand led by skipper Sophie Devine.
However, women’s cricket’s stay at the Commonwealth Games was short-lived, as cricket has been removed from the next edition of the Commonwealth Games in 2026 in Glasgow, Scotland. Earlier, it was originally set to be hosted by Victoria, however, they withdrew their name as the hosts, courtesy of the event going over budget.
Notably, the number of events at the 2026 Commonwealth Games has been trimmed down to 10 from 19 events in the previous edition. Diving, Swimming, Athletics, Badminton, 3*3 Basketball, Beach Volleyball, Boxing, Cricket, Cycling, Gymnastics, Field Hockey, Judo, Lawn Bowls, Netball, Para Powerlifting, Rugby sevens, Squash, Table Tennis, Triathlon, Weightlifting, Wrestling featured in the previous edition. Out of which, Cricket, Badminton, Beach, Volleyball, Mountain Biking, Rhythmic Gymnastics, Squash, and Table Tennis have been dropped out for the next edition of the Commonwealth Games in 2026 in Scotland.
🚨 BREAKING NEWS!! 🚨
No Cricket in CWG 2026 to be held in Glasgow from July 23 to August 2 😞
Cricket returned to the CWG in 2022 in the form of a women’s T20 event. #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/2veoz3ntRv
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) October 22, 2024
The 10 events that will take place in the next edition of the Commonwealth Games are as follows, Track Cycling, Weightlifting, 3*3 Basketball, Lawn Bowls (included in Para events), Netball, Artistic Gymnastics, Judo, and Boxing for a group of 10.
LA 2028 Olympics Update:
As it was confirmed earlier, cricket is all set to make a return to the Olympics after a huge gap of 128 years. It was last played in the year 1900. The organizers are still brainstorming on suitable venues for hosting cricket matches, for the 2028 edition of the Olympics set to be hosted by Los Angeles will be the 34th edition.
“Unlike the other new sports, cricket presents a unique venue challenge. LA28 has been vocal about how it plans to keep costs down by utilizing existing venues, but there are very few – if any – suitable cricket venues in California. Or in the rest of the country. The Indian market was a critical part of cricket’s pitch to join LA28,” the organisers said about the challenges of finalising a venue for cricket, considering the lack of proper facilities in the country.
The organisers have announced the location for most of the other sports, apart from cricket. New York is currently the front-runner to host the cricket games, considering the kind of popularity of the sport among Indian audiences. The difference in time zones between Los Angeles and India is 12 hours and 30 minutes, while the difference between New York and India is 9 hours and 30 minutes, making it more convenient for Indian viewers to follow those games.
Earlier this year, the men’s edition of the ICC T20 World Cup was co-hosted by the USA and the West Indies, the USA leg of the tournament was played in three venues Dallas, Fort Lauderdale, and a temporary stadium was built on Long Island outside New York City which was structurally demolished after the conclusion of the final game hosted in the country in that particular tournament. However, the pitch and the irrigation from that venue are still in place.
(Quotes sourced from Sportico, The Business of Sports)
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