The International Cricket Council has announced that they will be submitting a bid to have cricket as an Olympic sport in Los Angeles, 2028.
Leaving the debate about whether or not cricket should even be in the Olympics (for the record, I am on the fence), the purpose of this article is to look at who might even make the Australian team.
There are a few assumptions that have been made in this article. Firstly, Twenty20 will be the format in the Olympics.
Secondly, all sides send their best possible teams over and that every player selected is in good form.
Thirdly, that there have to be extended squads selected due to the large number of matches played over a short space of time.
Finally, that the Olympic tournament will be open to the top 16 qualifying nations from all over the world (which is doubtful).
So, who makes the Australian side? Straight away, a large number of regular T20 players can be ruled out due to age.
These include Matthew Wade (40), Aaron Finch (41) David Warner (41), Mitchell Starc (38), Josh Hazlewood (37), James Pattinson (38), Moises Henriques (41), Marcus Stoinis (38), Nathan Coulter-Nile (41) and Glenn Maxwell (40).
Who might be available or on the cusp because of age? They include: Steven Smith (39), D’Arcy Short (38), Daniel Sams (35), Pat Cummins (35), Peter Handscomb (37), Adam Zampa (36), Chris Lynn (38), Mitchell Marsh (36), Ashton Turner (35) and Alex Carey (36).
Players who are on the right side with age: Josh Philippe (31), Josh Inglis (33), Mitchell Swepson (34), Cameron Green (29), Marnus Labuschagne (34), Riley Meredith (32), Ashton Agar (34), Nathan Ellis (34), Ben McDermott (34) and Tanveer Sangha (26).
This leaves plenty of players to select from and does not include the development of up-and-coming young players who may not even be in contention at this stage. Players like Jake Fraser-McGurk (26), Oliver Davies (27), Max Bryant (29) and Peter Hatzoglou (29) may be there or thereabouts in terms of selection for the side.
So, who is picked? Assuming a squad of 18, the following players should be in the side.
Josh Philippe (wk)
Ben McDermott
Marnus Labuschagne
Steve Smith
Cameron Green
Alex Carey
Jake Fraser-McGurk
Ashton Agar
Pat Cummins
Riley Meredith
Wes Agar
Tanveer Sangha
Nathan Ellis
Mitchell Marsh
Ashton Turner
Max Bryant
Sam Harper
Xavier Bartlett
I acknowledge that I have probably omitted some names that should be included, and with many of the younger players, it is hard to forecast their futures seven years in advance. My locked-down brain has gone stir crazy.
Also, some of the players who I have ruled out due to age (players like Mitchell Starc and James Pattinson), if they are fit and firing, there could be a case for someone like Pattinson to play.
There could be another young player who, in the next seven years, takes the Twenty20 world by storm and becomes a shoo-in for selection.
Forecasting selection is tricky, and nobody knows where it might go, but here is my best shot at it.
Feel free to castigate or celebrate in the comments below.
Gibbo
Roar Pro
He's right in that age bracket, so it's a good call. Inglis I addressed in an earlier comment.
Cher
Guest
I want Peter handscomb to be in the team.I love his play!
Ben Palliyaguru
Roar Rookie
The names I think you have missed are Jhye Richardson, Josh Inglis. Other than that, good article mate.
Gibbo
Roar Pro
Tim David is an interesting option. Tbh, I haven't followed his career as closely, perhaps, as I should have. I'd love to see some real consistency in the BBL first.
Gibbo
Roar Pro
There you go. finally a cricketing fact I didn't know.
Once Upon a Time on the Roar
Roar Guru
They didn't at the 1998 commonwealth games.
Gibbo
Roar Pro
Yeah, possibly. But I'd say it's possible that someone like Starc or Smith could still be near their best at 38/39 years of age. I think Smith will hit a point where his hand/eye gives out and his form will just fall off a cliff. Starc, I think, will probably retire in the next 2-3 years from long format cricket and thereby still be at or near his best at 38. Cummins still being around at 35? That's a decent chance. Ellis at 34? Let's see how he develops in the next few years, but I think he might still be around. I haven't heard of any up and coming 16 year olds or 17 year olds (and I looked) who might be there or thereabouts. Plus, it's always hard with them to know if they'll stick it out (or if they'll get screwed over by the selectors, like Matty Renshaw). I reckon that there'll probably be 3-4 spots available in this squad come 2028.
Gibbo
Roar Pro
They can always not go to one of the many T20 tournaments around the globe.
Gibbo
Roar Pro
How do you know they won't have ICC status? If the ICC is preparing a bid for the IOC, why would those matches not count as first-class matches?
Gibbo
Roar Pro
Of course! How could I forget Inglis, the only bloke who's scored runs in all 3 formats this summer? He'd come in for Carey for mine.
DaveJ
Roar Rookie
NOTE to ROAR: something has gone wrong with the threads. It’s very unclear who is responding to which comment or thread. Pleas fix.
Timmuh
Roar Guru
The IOC probably wouldn't allow that. They do for mens "football" because they need the sport more than the sport needs the Olympics. Its highly unlikely they would do so for any other sport.
Timmuh
Roar Guru
It would only be T20, even so you might be being a little generous on the longevity of the pace attack. But, as you rightly say, trying to guess that far down the track is difficult. Is there a standout 16 year old who could be forcing their way in at 23 years old, or a late bolter barely on a state under-aged squad radar yet?
Once Upon a Time on the Roar
Roar Guru
Especially given the games won't have ICC status anyway.
Phil
Guest
I mentioned in a post some time ago that selectors could do worse than having a look at Tim Daivd as the middle order finisher / hitter that we are missing. In the last couple of weeks he has hit 2 100's and an another 50 in UK white ball cricket, all innings' at a great strike rate and littered with some massive sixes. Bowls a bit of off spin too. I think he's around 25, so definitely in the age range for your Olympics Squad, and not the worst option for the 2020 WC this year !
Arj
Roar Rookie
To be honest I think cricket in the Olympics might be similar to football in the sense that it could be for like the u23s or maybe using the 'A' teams. I think the cricket calendar is already quite packed for the top stars.
Paul
Roar Guru
My first thought when I started reading this piece is, I wonder what Brad Hogg will be doing in 2028! :happy: Josh Inglis is the obvious name to be included, I'd have thought. By then he should be a fixture in the Aussie T20 side