Dates Announced for Cricket's Return to Olympic Games in Los Angeles 2028

Cricket to make Olympics return on July 12

Cricket’s return to the Olympic Games is much-awaited after a long gap of 128 years since Paris 1900. Finally, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has released the schedule for the much-awaited return of the sport to the biggest and the global sporting stage.

The highly awaited return of cricket in the Olympic games for the first time after 1900 will commence on July 12, two days prior to the official kick-off of the LA 2028 Olympic Games, which is termed as ‘Minus 2’. 

The official schedule and dates for the cricket event were released by the committee on Monday, July 14. The competition will begin on July 12, and the medal matches will take place on July 20 and 29, 2028, with gold, silver, and bronze medals up for grabs.

Both the women's and men's editions will feature a total of 6 teams each and have been allotted a 90-athlete quota, meaning a team can name a maximum of 15 players squad.

The matches will be played in double headers with the first match of the day to be played at 9 A.M local time and the second match at 6:30 P.M. local time, i.e,. 9:30 P.M. IST and 7 A.M IST the following day, respectively.

All the men's and women's matches will be played at the purpose-built Fairgrounds Stadium in Pomona, a city that is about 50km from Los Angeles.

Cricket to start two days before the Olympics?

The first two days of the cricketing event are being termed as ‘Minus 2’ (July 12) and ‘Minus 1’ (July 13). The reasoning behind the opening day being termed as Minus 2 and Minus as the cricket event will start two days before the official opening ceremony of the Olympics 2028. However, the medal matches scheduled to take place on July 19 and July 29 will take place only after the opening ceremony is done.

Men's Cricket in LA 2028

Meanwhile, the men's cricket event in the Los Angeles Games 2028 will commence on July 12. The medal match will take place on July 19 after the league phase matches conclude on July 18. There will be a final match played between the two best teams on July 19, with the winning team to be awarded the Gold medal with the losing team the Silver medal. The 3rd-placed team, meanwhile, will win the Bronze medal.

Key Dates:

First-Set: 12-18 July, 2028

Medal Match: 19 July, 2028

Women's Cricket in LA 2028

The cricket's return to the Olympic Games will be celebrated with the Women's set of matches first. The first match of the event in the women's category will be played on July 22, with the league stage matches to be played until July 28. After that, on July 29, the medal match will take place. Silver will be given to the losing side, and gold will be given to the winner of the final match. The 3rd placed team will be awarded the Bronze medal.

Key Dates:

Second-Set: 22-28 July, 2028

Medal Match: 29 July, 2028