Breakfast-time cricket at the Olympics, for the players

Perth Now

3 days ago

Australian sports fans are used to inconvenient scheduling when it come to following their teams overseas and the cricket events at the Los Angeles Olympics will be no different.
The players, however, will find the timing unusual as the organisers' desire to cater to the huge Indian market means half the fixtures will begin at 9am local time.
The others will start at 1830 Pacific Daylight Time time, under floodlights, meaning matches staged at 2130 and 0700 India Standard Time.
That's 0200 and 1130 AEST, which with both the men's and women's finals scheduled for Thursdays (Fridays in Australia) could lead to a few sickies'.
It is hoped the dry air in southern California means neither morning nor evening dew will be a decisive factor, as the latter was in UAE in the 2021 T20 World Cup, when whoever won the toss won the match.
Fixtures will be played at Pomona, 35 miles east of the main Olympic venues, at a new site which will become the home of Major League Cricket (and IPL) franchise Knight Riders.
Kit McConnell, the International Olympic Commission's sports director, told BBC Sport organisers considered "core cricket markets in the subcontinent" when planning the tournament.
Cricket's return to the Games after a 128-year absence has been driven by the IOC's desire to tap into Indian audiences and cricket's push for expansion.
Six teams will participate in each of the men's and women's events with the qualification process still to be decided. The International Cricket Council is due to discuss the issue at their AGM in Singapore, starting 17 July.
The BBC reported the teams will be split into two groups with each team playing each other once.
Teams will then play the two sides from the other group who were not ranked in the corresponding position.
For example, the winners of Group A will play the second and third-placed teams in Group B.
Results will be combined with the top two playing a final to decide the gold and silver medals and third and fourth competing for bronze.
The event will start on July 12, two days before the opening ceremony, with the finals on 20 and 29 July (21 and 30 July in Australia). The women's and men's tournaments are set to run in separate slots rather than being played concurrently.
Great Britain won gold the only time cricket was at the Olympics, at Paris 1900, beating France in the sole match. UK cricket authorities are negotiating over creating a combined team for LA 2028 to defend their title.