Cricket is set to make its highly anticipated return to the Olympic Games at the Fairplex in Pomona, with matches officially commencing on July 12, 2028. The organizers of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games unveiled the complete competition schedule on July 14, confirming that the medal matches for cricket will take place on July 20 and 29. This event marks cricket’s first appearance in the Olympics since Paris 1900, concluding a 128-year hiatus. The sport’s previous participation consisted of a single two-day match between Great Britain and France, which is now regarded as an unofficial Test. For the LA28 Games, cricket will be contested in the contemporary T20 format, featuring separate tournaments for both men and women. Each tournament will include six teams and a maximum of 90 athletes per gender, allowing for squads of 15 members. All matches will occur at a specially constructed, temporary venue within the Fairplex grounds—an iconic location in Pomona that has hosted the Los Angeles County Fair since 1922.
The matches are planned as doubleheaders, commencing at 9:00 AM and 6:30 PM local time. There will be no games on July 14 and 21. For viewers in India, the first match of each day will start at 9:30 PM IST, with the second match following at 7:00 AM IST the following morning. The reintroduction of cricket into the Olympics signifies its increasing prominence in global multi-sport events. T20 cricket has been featured in the Commonwealth Games—men in 1998, women in 2022—and both genders have participated in the Asian Games in 2010, 2014, and 2023. The International Olympic Committee sanctioned cricket’s inclusion in the LA28 program in 2023, alongside baseball/softball, flag football, lacrosse (sixes), and squash. Squash events are set to begin on July 15 at the Universal City Squash Center, with medal rounds scheduled for July 23 and 24. The addition of both sports is anticipated to attract significant interest from countries such as India.
