Former Australian captain Ricky Ponting has spoken out about cricket’s return to the Olympics after a 128-year absence, saying it can only be a positive for a sport that is hugely popular in countries like India, England and Australia but has yet to make a big impact in other parts of the world. Ponting says cricket’s return to the Olympics will expose the sport to a new audience.

In an interview with The ICC Review, Ponting said: “This can only be a positive for our sport. I have sat on various committees over the last 15 or 20 years and the question of how we bring the sport back to the Olympics has always been high on the agenda. And now it’s finally happening… It’s only four years away. I think it also gives cricket a chance to gain a foothold at grassroots level in the US.”

“The Olympics are not about the host country. It’s about the audience they reach. The Olympics are watched by so many people around the world, it just opens up a whole new audience for our sport, which seems to be growing every day anyway. That can only be a really positive thing for the sport,” added Ponting.

Gaining a foothold in the US in particular is a key objective of the ICC, which has co-hosted the prestigious 2024 T20 World Cup to increase the game’s presence in the country. However, world cricket’s governing body will have a lot of work to do, having been criticised for hosting matches in the US on substandard grounds.

Ponting also hinted that infrastructure could potentially be a factor in hosting the 2028 Olympics, explaining: “Facilities and infrastructure and those things will be critical, as will the number of teams they actually decide to put on. I think it’s only six or seven teams they’re talking about.”