Venue revealed for cricket's Olympic return after 128 years

Cricket will make its Olympic return in a temporary but purpose-built arena in Pomona, east of downtown Los Angeles, the LA28 organising committee announced overnight.

LA28 unveiled its venue plan for the 2028 Olympics on Tuesday (US time) with cricket – returning to the Games for the first time in 128 years – set to be staged at the Fairgrounds in Pomona, Southern California.

The Los Angeles County site, about 50km east of the city, is 500-acre event complex that has hosted the LA County Fair since 1922 as well as concerts, trade shows, sports and cultural events.

It is now set to be transformed into an international cricket ground as the sport returns to the Olympic Games for the first time since 1900 with cricket pushing to increase its footprint in the United States.

While cricket has been played in the USA for more than 300 years, there are currently just two permanent cricket stadiums in country that regularly host international matches – Grand Prairie Stadium in Texas built for Major League Cricket in 2023 and Central Broward Stadium in Lauderhill, Florida.

Both venues hosted matches during last year's men's T20 World Cup, along with a temporary 34,000-seat stadium in Nassau County, New York, that featured the group stage's marquee match between India and Pakistan.

The 2028 Games will feature a six-team T20 cricket competition in both the men's and women's tournaments, with the qualification process to be announced at a later date. A total of 90 athlete quotas have been allocated for each gender, allowing each nation to name a 15-player squad.

International Cricket Council (ICC) chair, Jay Shah, said the venue announcement was a "significant step" in the sport's preparation for a return to the Olympics.

Cricket made its only Olympic appearance at the Paris Games in 1900 where Great Britain won the gold medal in a one-off, two-day match against France.

The sport was added to the LA Games following an International Olympic Committee meeting in Mumbai in October 2023, joining baseball/softball, flag football, lacrosse and squash as the five new sports in the 2028 Olympics.

"Although cricket is a hugely popular sport, it will be a fantastic opportunity to expand traditional boundaries when it features in the Olympics in the fast-paced, exciting T20 format that should appeal to new audiences," Shah said in an ICC statement.

The popularity of cricket has surged in the USA over the past few years with as many as 200,000 players by 2017 and up to 30 million fans. Team USA also continues to improve, famously upsetting Pakistan in a Super Over at last year's T20 World Cup.

The T20 format, which is recognised as the vehicle for the growth of cricket by the ICC, has also featured in other multi-sport events in recent years.

The Asian Games in 2010, 2014 and 2023 featured both men's and women's T20 competitions, while the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games staged a women's T20 tournament.

Baseball's Olympic return will be staged at Dodger Stadium in downtown Los Angeles, which coincidentally hosted a cricket match featuring legends Sachin Tendulkar and Shane Warne during an All-Stars series in 2015.

The LA28 Olympics will take place from July 14-30 with the schedule for each sport, including cricket, to be finalised closer to the Games.