Cricket's administrative body Sunday said that after a positive meeting with the officials of the International Olympic Committee it will explore ways to remove hurdles for the sport's inclusion at the Summer Games. The sport's shortest format Twenty20 cricket has already been a part of the last two editions of Asian Games in Guangzhou (China 2010) and Incheon (South Korea 2014) but efforts to be included in the Olympic program are far from being finalized. The chief executive of the International Cricket Council (ICC) David Richardson and general manager cricket Geoff Allardice recently met IOC chief Thomas Bach in Lausanne, Switzerland to discuss cricket's inclusion at the Summer Olympics. "We met the IOC president and we have really explored the possibilities, at least we are talking, and we are open to the opportunity if it's worthwhile to include cricket in Olympics," Richardson told BBC radio. Richardson said it wasn't easy to get the nod. "If the ICC is committed then we have to overcome the hurdle of the IOC accepting cricket because there are a lot of other sports that want inclusion in the 2024 Olympics," said Richardson. "But it's not as simple as that and there are lot of issues that you need to consider and the Olympics might not want cricket, they don't want second rate teams and they don't want Micky Mouse format, they want our major format, the Twenty20," said Richardson. ICC chief "not too suspicious" on Sharjah match The International Cricket Council (ICC) chief executive David Richardson said Sunday he was "not too suspicious" over the one-day match between Pakistan and England in Sharjah, despite press reports it could have been fixed. British tabloid Daily Mail alleged the match on Tuesday was under investigation by the Anti-Corruption Unit of the International Cricket Council (ICC) over unusual patterns of betting. The newspaper claimed the investigators were tipped off before the match that Pakistan would underperform in the game and that three run-outs, casual dismissals of batsmen and sloppy fielding were suspicious. Pakistan was bowled out for 208 on a flat pitch, with skipper Azhar Ali, Mohammad Rizwan and Shoaib Malik run out and lost the match by six wickets. Richardson said odd run outs happen in cricket. "Yes, there could be odd occasions, there would be some strange run outs, in fact I have been run out on more occasions than I care to remember," Richardson, who played 42 Tests and 122 One-Day Internationals for South Africa, told BBC radio's Test Match Special Sunday. Richardson praised Pakistan players for reporting any suspicious offer. "Even Pakistan players themselves these days are reporting every approach that seems to come their way and I wouldn't be too suspicious," said Richardson. Pakistan head coach Waqar Younis has also refuted allegations of fixing in the Sharjah One-Day International. — Agencies
