Cricket Officially Added to 16th Asian Games

The 16th Asian Games, part of the worldwide Olympic movement and governed by the Olympic Council of Asia, has added Cricket to the rostrum of sports to be played at the Asian Games.

The decision to approve a proposal to include Cricket in Guangzhou was taken at the Olympic Council of Asia’s General Assembly in Kuwait this week.

Both men’s and women’s cricket teams will participate in the Games. Cricket will be played in the twenty-twenty format. Four one-day playing Asian countries will include:

India
Pakistan
Sri Lanka
Bangladesh
China (host nation automatically qualifies)

Other Asian countries will have to play a qualifying round to fight it out for additional three spots.

OCA President Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah said, "India and Pakistan were the drivers. Pakistan and India will come with their best teams because it will be a big competition.”

Asia’s four-Test playing nations have committed to sending their “best available teams.”

Forty-two disciplines will be featured in Guangzhou, three more than in the 2006 Doha Games, including some uniquely Asian sports as Kabaddi, Sepaktakraw, Chess and Wushu. The Olympics has 28 disciplines.

The Guangzhou 2010 Asian Games will be played from November 12 to November 27 in 2010. Though India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka will be involved in home Test and ODI series during that month according to the ICC’s Future Tour Program, it is hoped that once a schedule for the Twenty20 competition in Guangzhou is developed some of the best players for that format will be available.

During the Asian Games, competing countries cannot include expatriate players as only national passport holders can play in the Asian and Olympic Games. Cricket has not been played at the Olympics since the 1900 Games in Paris when Great Britain beat France to win the gold medal.

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