Pessimism about cricket being part of the 2026 Asian Games has led Japan Cricket Association chief operating officer Alan Carr to call the sporting program “absent”. As we first reported last month, cricket is at risk of being kicked out of the multi-sport event in Nagoya, Japan, a blow to its growth in the baseball-mad nation. Hopes rose further when the Olympic Council of Asia and the Japanese organizing committee announced the addition of cricket. “The organizing committee is very keen to include cricket in the 2026 Asian Games,” OCA deputy director Vinod Kumar Tiwari told Reuters.
Nagoya’s baseball stadium is to be repurposed, according to Reuters. However, as previously reported, logistical challenges will be difficult to overcome given the oval size and centrally located pitch of the cricket stadium. “Look, it would be fantastic if cricket was actually included in the game. But I contacted the organizing committee and they were very clear.” Carr spoke to Emerging Cricket following my recent article. “There are 41 different sports offered at the Olympics and cricket is not currently one of them. “Unless someone tells us otherwise, our team has no plans to participate in this event,” he said.
OSA Carr said: “That’s my understanding (of Asian Games cricket). It is now an Olympic sport. I have wondered about it and hope it is in Nagoya,” OCA chief executive Randhir Singh told Cricbuzz. Negotiations are still ongoing between the Asian Cricket Council, which will be headed by India’s strongman Jay Shah until he runs world cricket. December – and the relevant authorities. A final decision is expected to be made next year. The next Asian Games, with more sports and player quotas than the Olympics, will be held less than two years before the Los Angeles Games, where cricket will end its 128-year Olympic run.
Although it is the second most popular sport in the world according to some statistics, cricket, which is largely confined to the Commonwealth, has not traditionally hosted many sporting events. However, over the past decade, attitudes towards the power of the sport have changed, with a greater focus on expanding beyond cricket’s traditional influences. Cricket participated in the Asian Games in 2010 and 2014, and last year, 15 men’s teams and 9 women’s teams participated. The financial strength of the sport has been strengthened, notably with India winning double gold medals in Hangzhou in 2010 and 2014.
Amid the uncertainty surrounding the Asian Games, there is some good news, as we reported last month: cricket was a late addition to the sports program for next year’s Southeast Asian Games in Thailand. Cricket appears to have been left out of the next Southeast Asian Games, which will be held in several Thai cities, including Bangkok, from December 9-20, 2025. The biennial multi-sport event began in 1959 and spans 12 countries, but cricket only made its debut in Malaysia in 2017. He was not part of the two SEA Games held in the Philippines and Vietnam. But cricket returned last year to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, with eight sports for men and women across four formats. Cricket’s application for membership was promoted by the Shah-led ACC.
