How the Aussie men's XI could look at the 2028 Olympics

The 2024 Olympics are over but cricket fans have an extra reason to get excited for the next Games with the sport set to return in Los Angeles for the first time in 128 years.

Details over where matches will be played and how many teams will compete are still being ironed out – but the standard in 2028 is certain to be higher than the 1900 Games when the only two teams, Great Britain and France, played a one-off match for the gold medal.

The amateur Devon and Somerset club cricketers representing Britain defeated the French side made up mostly of British expats by 158 runs in a 12-a-side, two-innings game in Paris.

This time the format will be Twenty20, with cricket joining baseball, softball, flag football, lacrosse and squash as the new sports for the '28 Games.

Australia will fancy their chances at claiming gold – so we have fast-forwarded the clock to 2028 and taken a stab at what their team might look like in four years' time … and had some fun doing it.

There is expected to be considerable turnover in the green and gold over the next four years, and we have made a blanket call by not considering any player who will be older than 35 when the LA Olympics are held.

That rules a line through current T20 captain Mitch Marsh (who will be 36 for the July '28 event) along with fellow white-ball mainstays Adam Zampa (36), Josh Hazlewood (37), Mitchell Starc (38), Marcus Stoinis (38), Glenn Maxwell (39) and Matthew Wade (40)

Stay tuned for our selections of Australia's possible women's Olympics XI, and make sure you bookmark this page to check back in four years to see how many of these predictions we got right…

AUSTRALIA’S OLYMPIC XI*

*player profiles from the year 2028

Travis Head (captain)

Age: 34

Dust off the Bolles! Head believes the laid-back, relaxed vibes espoused by his predecessors Mitch Marsh and Pat Cummins are at an all-time high heading into Australia's maiden Olympic cricket campaign. The veteran left-hander took over the job when Marsh stood down following the Aussies' memorable T20 World Cup crown two years ago. Head will be delighted Australia's tournament opener is against Bangladesh given he posted Test cricket's fastest ever triple century against them last year in Darwin.

Jake Fraser-McGurk

Age: 26

Cricket officials breathed a sigh of relief when the explosive opener chose their sport, having flirted with accepting an offer of a spot on Australia's golf team. His decision, revealed via hologram to his 74 million TikTok followers, came despite a brief stint on the LIV circuit being heralded as a success. Fraser-McGurk says he's all-in on cricket, though his celebrity status around the Olympic village will be a distraction Australia's firebrand coach Tim Paine must carefully manage.

Matt Short

Age: 32

With his swimmer wife Madi Wilson having conquered the pool at the 2016 and 2020 Games, Short is hoping to add a third Olympic gold medal to the household. His off-spin bowling will be just as important as batting at first drop, with the new ball in particular after the ICC extended the Powerplay in T20s from six to 10 overs last year.

Cameron Green

Age: 29

Cricket's No.1 allrounder across all formats is arguably his side's most important player in LA. The Western Australian has been tipped to take the new ball after skipping this year's IPL to instead spend a month perfecting his outswinger with Australia's bowling consultant, Jimmy Anderson.

Josh Inglis (wicketkeeper)

Age: 33

Inglis is riding a wave of popularity in Australia after rebuffing England's attempts to lure the Leeds-born gloveman 'home' with an offer for him to become their all-format wicketkeeper using an obscure regulatory loophole only discovered in 2026. It adds some intrigue to the Australia-Great Britain group-stage match, with Inglis now expected to be the latest Australian keeper to become the target of the UK's tabloid press. 

Tim David

Age: 32

The Mumbai Indians captain arrives in LA in strong form having been crowned MVP of the inaugural F5 five-over, five-day tournament in Abu Dhabi. The hero of Australia's triple super-over 2026 T20 World Cup victory in Ahmedabad, David is eyeing off his fifth short-form title in the past 12 months.  

Cooper Connolly

Age: 24

Connolly may have recently shaved off the long blonde locks he swept under the Baggy Green he received during the 2026 New Year's Test against England, but the allrounder has lost none of the talent that has made him a first-choice player across all formats for Australia. Developing his spin partnership with Tanveer Sangha to the same level as the one he formed with Nathan Lyon during last year's heartbreaking 2-3 Test series defeat in India will be vital to the Aussies' Olympic dream.

Pat Cummins

Age: 35

Considering he is looking to add another world title after helping win the ICC's Test, ODI and T20 ICC trophies over the past 24 months, it was little wonder Cummins was chosen to be Australia's flag bearer in LA. An Olympic gold medal would be a capstone to a glittering international career he has vowed to finish at the end of this tournament, though he will remain involved in USA cricket as the San Fransisco Unicorns' first player-CEO. 

Nathan Ellis

Age: 33

Australia's go-to man at the death shapes as an important figure to put the brakes on the world's best batters given teams now regularly top the 300-run mark from their 20 overs. Despite Ellls' back-of-the-hand slower ball losing its mystery over recent years, his new slower delivery (gripped between his thumb and pinky fingers) that confounded batters during this year's four-month long IPL tournament will be an important weapon.

Spencer Johnson

Age: 32

Halfway through the six-year deal that made him the Big Bash's highest-paid player, Johnson arrives in the USA as Australia's fastest bowler. His hold over Shubman Gill (he has dismissed him in six of their past seven meetings) will be a crucial sub-plot should Australia play rivals India in a knockout match.

Tanveer Sangha

Age: 26

The wrist-spinner has been thrust into the main spin role after Adam Zampa's shock retirement last year after realising there were no more 'receipts' to be kept following Australia's recent T20 success. It is nonetheless just reward for Sangha given he has patiently bided his time for a spot in Test cricket too behind the evergreen 40-year-old Lyon, despite the younger tweaker snaring more than 40 wickets in each of the past two Sheffield Shield seasons.