Incheon, South Korea: The prospect of Oceania countries participating in the Asian Games would boost cricket both in the continental event and across the region, the chief executive of the Asian Cricket Council said on Saturday.
“I’m sure the game will get a big boost if Australia and New Zealand were to play cricket at the Asian Games,” Syed Ashraful Haque said. “Australia does not even mind playing in the Olympics and their presence will definitely enhance the stature of the tournament.”
Olympic Council of Asia president Shaikh Ahmad Al Fahd Al Sabah said last week that Oceania countries have been allowed to participate in the 2017 Indoor Asian Games in the Turkmenistan capital of Ashgabat and also indicated that participation in future Asian Games was possible.
“We have an opportunity but let’s do it step-by-step. Indoor will be good. Then we will think more,” Shaikh Ahmad had said.
Haque said the standard of cricket could become better with more interest even from within Asia.
“The more Test playing countries participate in these games, the better it will be. In fact, even if all countries of the continent (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh) play in the tournament, it could make it very interesting,” Haque said.
“It’s a shame that teams like India and Pakistan don’t show interest in this tournament, after all it can get you a gold medal here. But I’m still confident that cricket will gain momentum in the coming years. After all, it was only started last time in Guangzhou (in 2010),” he added.
Pakistan has only sent its women’s team for these games while India has abstained from sending either of its teams to both Guangzhou and Incheon.
Sri Lanka and Bangladesh though have included several top-line players in their Asian Games squad. Sri Lanka boasts players like Dinesh Chandimal, Upul Tharanga and Lahiru Thirimanne while Bangladesh has Shakib Al Hasan, Mashrafe Mortaza and Tamim Iqbal among others.
“The Asian Games is contributing to the growth of the game. Don’t forget, teams like Singapore, Maldives and others get grants from their Olympic associations for playing here and that is of great help to their cricket teams,” Ashraful said.
Pakistan defeated Bangladesh by four runs in a rain-hit match on Friday decided by the Duckworth-Lewis method to take the women’s gold. The men’s cricket tournament got underway on Saturday.
Cricket at multi-discipline events has evoked mixed response from cricket-playing countries with India and England in particular not showing interest.
But former Australian cricket greats like Steve Waugh and Adam Gilchrist have spoken in favour of cricket at the Olympics.
Apart from Asian Games, the Commonwealth Games included cricket once in 1998, when South Africa defeated Australia in the final at Kuala Lumpur to take the gold.
