International Cricket Council (ICC) chairman Jay Shah congratulated actor Shah Rukh Khan after the Knight Riders Group (KRG) officially unveiled a new world-class cricket stadium at the Fairplex in Pomona, Los Angeles, California. The venue is set to host cricket matches during the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, marking a significant milestone for the sport's growth in the United States.
Key Milestone for Cricket's Olympic Return
Posting on X, Shah said, "Congratulations @iamsrk. This is a key milestone in Cricket's return to the Olympics, made possible by the collaboration between the @LA_KnightRiders, @la28 and @icc. Growing cricket around the world is a collective effort, and initiatives such as this one help create new ecosystems for fans and players, which fuel this growth. I wish you the best and look forward to being on the journey ahead with you."
The newly built Knight Riders Cricket Ground in Pomona hosted its first-ever cricket match on Thursday, a Major League Cricket (MLC) fixture between the Los Angeles Knight Riders and Washington Freedom. Washington Freedom chased down 109 runs, powered by Steve Smith (40*) and Mark Chapman (34), while pacer Saurabh Netrawalkar (3/16) was the standout bowler.
Venue Specifications and Construction
The venue is hosting seven matches in the 2026 edition of MLC and will serve as the cricket venue for the LA Olympics. It features eight wickets on the main square, with ICC standard playing dimensions, and six floodlight towers each 120 feet tall. Over 32,000 metric tonnes of earth were moved during construction to create this purpose-built international venue.
Qualification System for LA28 Cricket
The qualification system for cricket at the LA 2028 Olympics has been officially published after approval from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board. Cricket returns to the Olympic Games for the first time in 128 years, since its last appearance at the Paris 1900 Olympics. The event will include separate men's and women's T20 competitions, with six teams in each category. Each team can have up to 15 players, with 90 athlete quota places available per tournament. In total, 28 matches will be played across the two events.
Five qualification spots in each event will be decided through a mix of ICC tournaments and T20I rankings based on the approved FTP structure. The final spot will be awarded through the inaugural ICC Olympics Qualifier, scheduled for 2027. Early qualification has already been confirmed through the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026, with Australia, Great Britain (via England), India and South Africa securing places as the highest-ranked eligible teams from their respective continents, with a limit of one team per region.
Special Qualification Conditions
The West Indies are not eligible for Olympic participation as they do not represent a single IOC-recognised National Olympic Committee. However, if their men's or women's teams rank among the top eight unqualified sides by the end of 2026, a Caribbean Qualifier will be held to decide which nation from the region advances. The USA, as hosts from the Americas, can qualify for both events if their teams rank inside the top 15 during the June-December 2026 qualification window. If they fail to meet this condition, their automatic spot will be reassigned to the next highest-ranked eligible team based on ICC rankings.
The remaining men's slots will be filled through ICC T20I rankings, with the top eligible teams from each continent qualifying as of 31 December 2026. The final places in both events will then be decided at the 2027 ICC Olympics Qualifier, which will feature eight teams per gender, with details of the venue and schedule to be announced later. Qualified teams will each be allowed a 15-player squad. The competition will feature two groups of three teams, with each team playing the others in its group once, along with two additional matches against teams from the opposite group that finished in different positions. The top two teams will compete for the gold and silver medals, while the third- and fourth-placed teams will play for bronze.
