It's been a good year for Canadian cricketers, who have regained their one-day international status and qualified for the ICC Men's T20 World Cup for the first time.
And there was more to celebrate with confirmation Monday that cricket has been approved for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
"I'm super-happy, super-excited. Looking forward to a lot more better things in future in cricket," said Canada captain Saad Bin Zafar. "I'm feeling really positive. I think finally things are working for us."
Inclusion in the Olympics will increase the sport's fan base, Zafar said.
"I'm sure once they understand and get to know the game they will fall in love with the sport because it's a very entertaining and very exciting sport," he added. "Really good news.
Making any Olympic field is difficult. It appears cricket even more so.
Early word is the competition will involve just six teams in each of the men’s and women’s tournaments playing the shortened T20 version of the game. As host, the U.S. will be guaranteed a berth.
"Yes, I am a little bit disappointed at the structure — only six teams will play in the Olympics. So we may not get a chance initially," Zadar said. "But eventually I believe we will get a chance. Overall it's still good for the game."
Ingleton Liburd, general manager of Cricket Canada, welcomes the Olympic news but is awaiting more details.
"It'll probably tough to crack into the final six," said Liburd. "But I'm hoping there's a qualification process … I hope they don't go by (world) ranking and we get an opportunity (to qualify)."
A T20 game takes about 3 1/2 hours to four hours to play.
Liburd hopes cricket's return to the Olympics — Britain won gold in 1900 in the sport's only other appearance at the games — will help Cricket Canada find more sponsors. The governing body has already applied to the Canadian Olympic Committee for membership.
Money has been an issue in recent years for Cricket Canada, which has depended mainly on funding from the International Cricket Council. The recent Global T20 Canada annual tournament in the Toronto area has also helped.
"But definitely funding is tight and we're looking for sponsorships to make sure that we can expand the game and get better," Liburd said.
The next challenge comes close to home with Canada set to compete next June in the T20 World Cup in the U.S. and West Indies.
The Canadian men resume one-day international play in February with a three-match series with Scotland and the United Arab Emirates in Dubai. Zafar expects to be on the road most of the winter preparing for the T20 World Cup around that one-day schedule.
On the women's front, Canada finished runner-up to the U.S. at last month's ICC Women's T20 World Cup Americas Qualifier. The Americans move on to next year's T20 Global Qualifier.
The Canadian men defeated host Bermuda by 39 runs on Oct. 7 to finish atop the four-team ICC Men's T20 World Cup Americas Region Final and qualify for next year's T20 World Cup.
The Canadians failed to qualify for the eight previous editions of the T20 World Cup, which has expanded to 20 teams in 2024.
"We have been to a lot of qualifiers in the past where we have missed it by a whisker," said Zafar. "It was so close."
Zafar, who came to Canada from Pakistan at 17, has a background in business administration/finance and used to be a procurement analyst for Aviva Canada, an insurance company.
He subsequently quit his job, electing to work part-time in auto sales to make more time for his sport while helping pay the bills. But after Canada regained its one-day status, the players were given full-time contracts in July for the first time ever.
"We can focus on the sport more and that's what was needed. Because before we were just part-time cricketers and it's difficult to represent Canada and compete against other countries that are full-time cricketers."
He calls it a step in the right direction while acknowledging the Cricket Canada contract "is not a lot. but just enough to live on."
The 36-year-old from Brampton, Ont., has been part of the national team program since 2008 and a fixture since 2015.
In April, the Canadian men regained their one-day international status by finishing fourth at the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier Playoff in Namibia. It was the culmination of several years work with Canada advancing to the Namibia event by finishing atop League A in the six-country World Cup Challenge League with a 13-1-0 record with one no-result.
The World Cup, currently underway with 10 teams competing in India, is the international championship of one-day cricket, with teams playing 50-over matches (compared to 20 for T20 matches).
The Canadian men last played at the World Cup in 2011, missing out in 2015 and ’19. Canada has taken part in four of the previous 12 World Cups, never making it out of the first round.
Baseball-softball, flag football, lacrosse and squash were also given the green light for 2028 by the International Olympic Committee on Monday.
The approval came from the Olympic body’s full membership at a meeting in Mumbai, India, after being proposed by Los Angeles officials one week ago and recommended by the IOC executive board on Friday.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2023.
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
