Cricket West Indies (CWI) has asked the ICC to provide a fair and transparent pathway for at least one of the Caribbean's sovereign nations to represent the region at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.
The issue is that in cricket, the Caribbean island nations compete under the "West Indies" banner and are administered by one cricket board (CWI), but only sovereign nations are allowed to contest at the Olympic Games. At the Los Angeles Olympics, where six nations each will compete in the men's and women's T20 disciplines, the region hopes to have at least one of its sovereign states in action.
"The Caribbean has always punched above its weight at the Olympics, inspiring the world with our athletic brilliance," CWI president Kishore Swallow said in a statement. "Cricket's return to the Games in 2028 must not exclude our young cricketers from the same dream that has inspired our athletes. The Olympic Charter emphasizes fairness, transparency, and universality. We are simply asking that these principles be upheld - not just in spirit, but in structure. West Indies cricket must have a pathway, and fully deserves an opportunity to compete."
West Indies Women are ranked sixth on the ICC T20I rankings, and the men are fifth. If the teams are finalised based on rankings (at a cut-off date) and not much changes to the current positions, both the men and the women should make the cut, but there is an additional complication: USA, as the hosts, might gain automatic qualification despite their low ranking. This isn't confirmed yet, but if that were to happen, only five further spots would be available.
The ICC has so far made no announcement on what the Olympics qualification process would be.
In its proposal to LA28, the ICC had suggested the six teams be shortlisted based on the T20I rankings at a cut-off date. The final call on qualification, while not taken yet, is expected to be made this year.
On the question of USA, Kit McConnell, the International Olympic Committee's sports director, had said in October 2023, "Normally, the host country is one of the teams in the team sports, and then we look at a balance of global strength and regional representation, and try and find that balance within the available quota as well."
CWI has suggested...
If rankings are used and West Indies men and women teams technically qualify, an internal qualifying tournament among its Olympic-affiliated member countries should determine which island represents the West Indies; or
Have a global qualifying pathway that includes associate ICC members in the five ICC Development Regions plus member countries of the West Indies.
The first of these would have the CWI, through domestic tournaments, pick their champions for the LA Olympics. The second would involve a more rigorous selection process, in which the sovereign nations that are members of the CWI compete alongside a host of other nations for Olympics spots.
At the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, when women's T20 cricket was included, Barbados took part. West Indies were direct qualifiers, and Barbados were selected because they were the champions of the West Indies' regional competition of the time - the Twenty20 Blaze.
What the CWI board has stressed is that qualification criteria must be "fair and transparent".
CWI chief executive Chris Dehring said, "Our nations have proudly flown their individual flags atop Olympic podiums as perennial gold medallists. Now, with cricket's inclusion, we must ensure that our cricketers are not shut out of history. We are ready to collaborate. We are ready to compete. But above all, we are asking for fairness."
Cricket has only once been played in the Olympics, way back in 1900. On that occasion, France and Great Britain competed, with Great Britain winning the two-day match by 158 runs.